Return of the Age of Heroes
by John Tannius
Summary: Things were bad enough with failed wedding, then Ranma saw someone he thought he'd lost forever. Ranma/Project A-ko/DC x-over :P
1. Changes

Chapter Ichi: Clichéd opening number 42  
A butterfly stood on an outstretched blade of grass flexing it's wings in preparation for lift off. Suddenly a foot came down out of nowhere crushing the small insect underneath. As the foot continued on it's way mindless of what occurred, the butterfly twitched feebly before stilling, never to flap it's wings again.  
  
This was a good thing however. If the butterfly had taken off flying, the minuscule air currents it gave off would have led to one of the greatest hurricanes in recorded history some six weeks later. The resulting devastation would have left most of the eastern seaboard of the United States unrecognizable. This in turn would have led to an economic downturn that the US would never recover from. Even later, the US in an attempt to rebuild it's dying glory would enter into a war over oil rights in the middle east which in turn would escalate into a global war ending in nuclear exchange and the eventual annihilation of the human race.  
  
Ranma, Savior of the world, walked on oblivious to how close to the end of things he had come. He was deep in thought as depression weighed heavily upon him. His father walked along beside him as they followed the guide his Genma had hired to lead them to Jusenkyou. He was a girl, an honest to goodness girl! Granted he could change back with hot water but only until the next time he got wet with cold water. It wasn't fair! He had promised he'd come back to her after this last leg of his training trip. How could he face her when he couldn't even face himself? Ranma caught a glimpse of his, no, her reflection. Fate was cruel. He could never go back to the woman he'd fallen for, had planned to marry one day, yet he was forced to look at her face every time his cursed form saw it's reflection.  
  
The guide's babbling broke Ranma from his introspection and he looked up. Seeing they were coming to a village, Ranma's spirits rose. Maybe these Amazons had a cure like the Guide had led them to believe.  
  
Meanwhile, somewhere in Japan a redheaded girl sneezed violently in her sleep and rolled over ungracefully to lie sprawled on her back, loudly snoring over the sound of her alarm clock.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
About five months later:  
  
Ranma plopped down tiredly in front of the TV, in girl form. It had been one of the worst weeks in her life and showed no signs of stopping soon. She had just gotten back from one of the worst fights of her life. One where she almost died. One where Akane did die, at least she hadn't been breathing for about a minute. Ranma had killed for her. She didn't know that Saffron would be reborn a few minutes later. In Ranma's mind she had killed for a woman she thought she loved. Everything started looking up afterwards. Akane had stopped hitting her and they had actually gotten along on the trip home. Shampoo and Ryouga had behaved themselves. And as long as Shampoo wasn't glomping Ranma, Mousse was actually a nice guy to have around. Everyone had stayed pretty quiet the whole trip. Mostly in awe of Ranma's power. The battle had been something out of an epic hero tale. When they had finally gotten home, Ranma felt that things had finally settled down. They hadn't discussed it but Ranma felt she and Akane had an understanding about their feelings. Ranma was actually accepting the idea she would become married to Akane eventually. There had been a brief time shortly after her arrival at the Tendo dojo when she had searched for her old girlfriend but after finding she had moved Ranma decided it was probably for the best. She had moved on with her life and it was time Ranma did the same. She briefly wondered sometimes how she would have reacted to the curse. So Ranma had finally come to terms, or so she thought, with her lot in life and what her future held. She would marry Akane and they would carry on the dojo together. It wasn't quite the ending she would have preferred for her heroic epic but it would suffice. Then everything fell apart.  
  
The wedding attempt.  
  
It was bad enough that she'd been knocked unconscious by her own father but Soun had been planning to use a cask of Jusenkyou water to bribe Akane into marrying him. Then there was their fight, followed by the assault on the dojo by all Ranma's fiancés and rivals. Then his own father had the gall to tell him that there wouldn't be another wedding attempt until Ranma had cleaned up his life! It was after that when Akane decided to show Ranma just how upset she was at having her wedding ruined by Ranma's life. Hence the reason she was sitting staring at the TV in her girl form. Akane had thoroughly beat Ranma and left him, her, unconscious in the koi pond. Ranma growled. Akane didn't want to get married, she hated him, she called him names and hit him all the time yet she was upset about her wedding being ruined. Ranma had officially given up trying to understand the girl some time ago but this was a new low. And his father! The nerve of the old bastard acting as if this whole mess was his fault! Other than Shampoo, which Ranma still felt was somewhat Genma's fault for telling Ranma that the feast was a free buffet, none of Ranma's fiancé problems were his fault. He could accept responsibility for his problems with Ryouga and Kuno and maybe even Kodachi. At least there was no honor involved in him telling Kodachi off.  
  
Realizing she wasn't solving anything by going around and around with her problems she sat back and turned the TV on. At first Ranma thought it was some sort of Sci Fi movie playing before she realized it was a news broadcast. Apparently there had been some sort of alien invasion up at Graviton City. It was a modern city built on the crater of a meteor strike about a hundred kilometers north of Tokyo. It had become some sort of headquarters for the JSDF and apparently they had managed to shoot down the ship after a huge fire fight that had destroyed a good section of town. Ranma shook her head. After having just defeated a self proclaimed god in battle, Ranma was pretty open to the weird these days. She watched as the camera panned over a good deal of the wreckage as the reporter talked at great lengths about the tragedy. The camera zoomed in on a partly demolished school that had a good sized chunk of the space craft sitting next to it. Ranma gasped in surprise at the flash of red hair as a girl crawled out of the wreckage. The camera went in for a close up as the girl stood up and laughed nervously with a hand bashfully behind her head. He recognized that gesture, he'd learned it from her after all. Sitting back with a dazed expression she couldn't tear her eyes from the TV.  
  
"A-chan..."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Akane was pissed. Ranma had disappeared the night of the wedding and even with the whole of the Nerima Wrecking Crew no one could find a trace of him. It had been five annoying days of searching without a clue. How dare he humiliate her again like this! If he had just accepted the stupid engagement and gotten married then things would have settled down. She was sure Ranma had taken off to learn some new technique or to seduce some new fiancé. That was just like him. She had accepted the fact that her soon to be husband was a pervert and a womanizer the likes the world hadn't seen since Happosai was a kid. She just wanted to get the marriage out of the way so she could fulfill her family's honor and force Ranma to divorce her and commit Seppuku or renounce his name the first time she caught him cheating on her. After all, her honor was at stake, as well as her need to win the fiancé race.  
  
She stomped up the stairs to her room, shaking the whole house in her wake. Akane sighed as she opened her door and went in her room. Sometimes, just sometimes, she wished Ranma wasn't so much of a perverted jerk. He could be nice if he tried. And he was good looking. Akane blushed at that, ideas of what her wedding night could have been like. Of course thinking of the wedding brought back her familiar anger. He irritated her to no end. If only Ranma would act like a man instead of a little boy! Maybe that was the answer. Nodoka Saotome could make Ranma be more of a man. The threat of her katana always kept him in line when she visited. Then she remembered the Saotome matriarch had funny ideas of manliness. Well, she would get married as her father had asked and honor would be fulfilled. As to whether it would last, Akane would leave that up to Ranma and his behaviour.  
  
Having worked out a solution to her current problem, Akane finally noticed the ornate envelope lying on her desk. It hadn't been there earlier when she had left. Picking it up she saw her name written in flowing calligraphy. Opening it, she wondered who could have left it. After all, Ranma didn't have that neat of handwriting.  
  
Akane: You are invited to attend Cha-No-Yu in the Tendo dojo at nine o'clock am on Saturday the sixteenth of this month. Formal Kimono Required. Ranma Saotome.  
  
Frowning, Akane set the letter back down on the desk. Saturday meant tomorrow. Whatever was going on was serious. Tea ceremony wasn't to be taken lightly. She was positive now that Ranma wasn't behind this. The baka didn't know the first thing about being polite or honorable. This was probably another weird fiancé come to try and take Ranma away again. She got up to go see if Nabiki had found any trace of Ranma yet when there was a knock at her door and Nabiki came in with a similar envelope to the one she had just opened.  
  
"Ah, I see you got one too." She commented.  
  
Akane nodded, "It's probably just another challenge for Ranma. This new fiancé is just being more formal than usual."  
  
"It's signed 'Ranma Saotome'."  
  
"You know Ranma's handwriting stinks." Akane replied.  
  
Nabiki shrugged, "Well, anyway... if this will all be cleared up tomorrow then I'll call off the bloodhounds. No use wasting money looking for Ranma if he's going to be here in the morning." She turned and left Akane alone to ponder just what was going to happen.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Nabiki fidgeted in her dress kimono remembering sullenly the last time she had worn it. It had been the day Ranma arrived in their lives. She idly wondered the significance of that. Would Ranma be leaving today? She had to admit that Ranma had freaked her out that first day they had met, it was one of the reasons Akane had ended up being engaged to him even though Nabiki had been more than willing to go along with the idea of an arranged marriage. Her prospects at Furinkan were slim at best and dating had been none at all, unless you counted all the times she scammed Kuno for food. After getting to know Ranma, Nabiki had realized she'd made a mistake about the roguish martial artist. It was too late now she realized. Especially after the debacle with her taking over the engagement from Akane that one time. She had pushed him away with her schemes and tricks. At best Ranma would never be more than a brother to her and Nabiki had accepted that.  
  
She had been hoping that Ranma and Akane would eventually get along and finally realize they were in love so she could at last have the brother Ranma had become in her eyes. That was one of the reasons she had sabotaged the wedding. Ranma and Akane were nowhere near to confessing their feelings yet and a marriage would have ended in a messy divorce shortly afterwards. She was worried though. Akane had been more and more open with her feelings towards Ranma and they weren't what Nabiki had originally thought they were. Akane had become obsessed with Ranma and saw him as a prize, possibly more so than the other fiancés. She was determined to win him and prove she was the best. Afterwards, well, Nabiki thought Ranma would stay with Akane as a matter of honor no matter how much abuse the violent girl heaped on him. If that didn't kill him, Akane would likely get tired of him and divorce him over his imagined affairs and unfaithfulness.  
  
Nabiki shook her head as she headed downstairs. Damn it Akane, can't you see that your own insecurity is pushing away possibly the best thing that could ever happen in your life? She saw the rest of the family standing around the backdoor of the house staring out into the yard. Apparently the whole family had received invitations to the tea ceremony.  
  
There was a knock at the front door and Kasumi went to answer it. She returned a minute later with the entire Nerima Wrecking Crew. The amazons, the okinamiyaki chef, and the Kuno siblings. Ryouga was absent, probably lost again. This tea ceremony must be more important than she had first realized. What are you doing Ranma? Nabiki smirked, Shampoo looked as uncomfortable in her kimono and she felt in hers. She had to keep from laughing at the sight of the Amazon Matriarch in a formal Japanese kimono however and averted her eyes to where the rest of the family was gathered. She went over to see what the big deal was and gasped in awe.  
  
The Tendo yard had been immaculately groomed. Every blade of grass was the same height and looked almost like it had been combed. The flowers and bushes were all trimmed and arranged. Not a rock was out of place and even the koi pond was sparkling clear. She'd never seen the yard look so neat and clean. Then there was the dojo itself. The wood had all been cleaned and either polished or painted where appropriate. The rice paper in the doors had been replaced and had ornate ink splash paintings or kanji on them. And there was a low bar across the main doors to the dojo itself so that a person would have to prostrate themselves in humility in order to enter.  
  
Kasumi broke the silence, "It is time. Shall we go see what this is about?"  
  
There were nods of agreement as the group made their way to the dojo, careful not to disturb the yard.  
  
Akane was barely containing her anger as she approached the doors. It was only her respect for an ancient Japanese tradition that kept her from barging into the dojo and demanding to know where her fiancé was. As it was she was the first to kneel and slide the dojo door open to move inside. There was a figure sitting in the middle of the dojo and it took a moment for Akane's eyes to adjust before she realized who it was.  
  
It was Ranma, in girl form, sitting sieza with various tea implements about her. Akane's anger fled in surprise. She's beautiful! Ranma had her hair down so that it flowed over her shoulders framing her face and bringing attention to her deep blue eyes. She was dressed in an ornate white kimono with sakura petal print. Akane sat sieza in front of Ranma as the others came in and gradually formed a semicircle around the redhead.  
  
"Pigtailed gir..." Kuno started before getting an elbow in the gut from his sister. Kodachi didn't know what the redheaded harlot had planned but as a noblewoman, she respected the tea ceremony.  
  
Once everyone was settled and quiet, Ranma went into motion. With a skill that boggled Akane, Ranma set to making green tea. The movements were exact and showed none of the uncouth, rude boy Akane would have expected. It was done in complete silence aside from the noise of the water or the brush mixing the tea. Ranma began to serve tea starting at her left. Tatewaki Kuno being the first to be served.  
  
His hands trembled as he took the cup and turned it. He couldn't remember if he should turn it clockwise or counterclockwise he was so overcome. Surely the pigtailed girl had called everyone here to publicly announce her intention to wed himself. He took a sip and wiped the edge of the cup before turning it again and handing it back to Ranma.  
  
As the process continued, Nabiki watched everyone's reactions. Akane had the same trouble as Kuno when her turn came. Ukyou seemed to know exactly what she was doing and moved with trained if rusty precision. When her turn came, Nabiki accepted the cup and realized Ranma had made eye contact with her. She hadn't done that with anyone else the entire ceremony. Just what is your game Saotome? She took her drink and went through the motions better than Ukyou had. Just because she wasn't a martial artist didn't mean she didn't study other traditions. Cha-No-Yu was very useful in business transactions. She allowed a small smile to grace her features as she gave the tea cup back to Ranma. To her surprise, Ranma returned it although it was so slight that only her or maybe Cologne would have caught it.  
  
Ranma finally served Cologne who was at the end of the line. Akane let out a frustrated sigh of relief that the preliminaries were done and they could get down to the business Ranma had wasted everyone's time for. She almost screamed as Ranma began the process of cleaning and arranging all the utensils and implements. Finally Ranma finished and sat back and eyed everyone thoughtfully.  
  
"First of all, let me remind you that this is a Cha-No-Yu. There will be no violence in word or action here. I would like you all to listen to what I have to say before you respond. This catastrophe called my life has gone on too long and it is time to settle things for better or worse." Ranma began.  
  
"First things first, Kodachi and Tatewaki Kuno." She looked directly at Kuno, "Do you know what my name is?"  
  
Kuno looked blank for a moment, "Uh... well..."  
  
"Have you ever talked to me? Gotten to know me beyond your declarations of love?" Ranma continued in a low non-threatening tone, "No you haven't. That isn't how you win love. Grabbing women and declaring your love with bad poetry will not get you a date. If you had taken the time to get to know me then you would know that my name is Ranma Saotome." Ranma picked up the remains of the hot water from the tea ceremony and poured it over her head.  
  
Kuno fainted away as Ranma transformed. Kodachi sat with a stunned expression for a moment then seemed to shrug as if it didn't matter.  
  
Ranma seemed a little surprised at the female Kuno's reaction but pressed on, "Kodachi, I know you have feelings for me but I do not wish to have anything more than a friendship with you. I do not love you, but I do like you and if you will be my friend then I will be happy."  
  
There were tears in Kodachi's eyes but she nodded in agreement.  
  
Ranma turned to Ukyou, "Ukyou, Ucchan, You were my best friend at a time when I needed a friend badly. I was still missing my mother and Pops is hardly a loving caring parent." There was a snort from the panda man.  
  
Ranma hung his head, "I honestly thought you were a boy all these years. The differences between boys and girls didn't become apparent to me until I started Junior High School. I'm sorry, but every time I think of you I see my old friend Ucchan, a boy. You will always be my friend but I can't love you the way you want."  
  
"But...my dowry..." She began.  
  
Ranma gulped and seemed to steel himself. The air temperature seemed to drop as Ranma called forth the soul of ice, "Ukyou, you gambled the Yattai away to the gambler king when we were kids. If Genma owes anyone anything, he should repay the Gambler King. I'm sorry."  
  
Ukyou collapsed into tears, sobbing softly.  
  
Ranma turned next to Cologne and the other amazons, "Elder."  
  
"Saotome-san." Cologne replied with a slight bow, "What do you have to offer us?"  
  
Ranma smirked a little, "Can't put anything past you can I? My offer is this, I will not marry Shampoo. My bloodline is what is important to you isn't it? I will give Shampoo one child to raise as an Amazon on the condition that it comes to train with me after it turns sixteen. Also all kisses of death or marriage are null and void."  
  
"And if we refuse this offer?" Cologne asked, testing the waters.  
  
"I defeated Saffron the phoenix god. You figure it out."  
  
Cologne smirked her eyes narrowing a bit, "Very well, we accept you offer on the condition that you will come to the tribe's aid in times of need."  
  
"As long as it's in defense of the tribe there will be no problem. Do not expect my help if you go looking for trouble." Ranma said back.  
  
Cologne nodded and sat back. Akane was barely holding back her anger at Ranma's proposal. He was actually offering to get Shampoo pregnant! It was only Kasumi's hand on her shoulder that kept her from attacking Ranma.  
  
Ranma turned to the assembled Tendo and Saotome clans, "I thought long and hard on what to do about the Saotome, Tendo agreement."  
  
"You will marry Akane." Genma said.  
  
Ranma frowned at Genma's outburst, "If I remember rightly, I was to marry one of the Tendo daughters. Tendo Soun even told me to choose any one I wanted. It was Kasumi and Nabiki who pushed Akane off onto me."  
  
Kasumi was shocked. Was he going to change the engagement to me? I like him but... he's so young! She thought lamely. Her cheeks colored nonetheless.  
  
Nabiki thought back to when she was Ranma's fiancé. Could she make it work this time?  
  
Akane was getting so mad she could hardly think let alone ponder the implications of Ranma's words. She was still obsessing over Ranma's offer to knock up the Chinese Bimbo.  
  
"After the Wedding incident I have realized a few things. First of all, I'm too young to get married. I won't even turn seventeen for another three months. Secondly, I won't be forced into anything against my will. I've decided my honor is my own. For all the dishonor Genma Saotome has done, the multiple engagements and promises he had made in both his and my name he should either commit Seppuku or be cast out of the Saotome clan. I have realized that is unlikely to happen nor is Genma likely to make amends or restitution. I will offer this last chance for honor to be at least partly fulfilled. A way for both clans to save some face in the light of dishonor."  
  
Akane seemed to focus finally on what Ranma was saying. Maybe he'd finally come to his senses and decided to marry Akane after all. Nodoka gave Genma a stern look that promised pain and explanations later.  
  
"From the first day I arrived here to the night of the wedding, I have put up with abuse that probably would have killed others. I have been beat, pummeled, and knocked unconscious almost on a daily basis for five months now. I have tried and tried to make things work. Granted I have an enormous ego and a mouth to match. I will offer the Tendo clan the same offer I gave the Amazons. Or if you like I will train one of Soun Tendo's grandchildren in the Saotome Ryu."  
  
Akane couldn't take it anymore. Ranma had just offered to impregnate her and her sisters too! She had known all along he was a womanizing pervert!  
  
"No! Ranma you Pervert! You will marry me and have my child or I'll kill you myself. I won't let you touch my sisters or that filthy amazon tramp! You're mine do you hear! I fought long and hard and won't be turned away! You were given to me and I own you!" Akane screamed.  
  
It was as if a dam broke. Both the Genma and Soun began shouting how Ranma would marry Akane. Kuno was regaining consciousness from all the shouting, mumbling something about 'foul sorcery'.  
  
Genma stood up and towered over Ranma, "Boy you will marry Akane or I'll have you thrown out of the clan!"  
  
Ranma sighed and stood, picking up the bucket of water from the tea ceremony, "Fine then."  
  
Genma stepped back with a satisfied expression at Ranma's statement.  
  
"I am no longer a Saotome. I hereby renounce my clan, my art, and if need be, my gender." Ranma poured the water over himself, reverting to the smaller redhead. Kuno fainted again.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Akane yelled. She pulled her mallet and swung.  
  
Ranma wasn't there. Then Akane realized her stomach was hurting badly. She looked down to see Ranma's small fist buried in her gut. Ranma stepped back and let Akane collapse to the floor.  
  
"Anyone else wish to make a statement?" Ranma asked. Behind her Genma turned around, and promptly collapsed unconscious. Nobody had even seen Ranma strike him.  
  
"If no one else wishes to say anything then I call this Cha-No-Yu over and a failure as well." She turned and walked out, stepping over the bar on the door.  
  
Soun had collapsed next to Akane, bawling that the schools would never be joined. The Amazons took their leave. Cologne planned to talk to Ranma later once things had calmed some. Kodachi lifted her brother over her shoulder and left, leaping over the boundary wall towards her estate. Ukyou managed to pull herself together enough to bow politely and leave.  
  
Nodoka looked at her husband on the floor once, then hurried towards the house to catch up with her son. Kasumi and Nabiki decided to follow. The three women reached the top of the stairs and entered the guest room. Ranma had already changed clothes and was busy packing a backpack.  
  
"Ranma..." Nodoka began.  
  
"I'm sorry mother. I've tried everything else I could think of. The Saotome name has brought me nothing but pain. Living life as a ronin will be tough but not as hard as it was being a Saotome. I don't want you to hate me but I had to do something." Ranma said as she packed.  
  
Nodoka sighed and seemed to fold in on herself, "This is my fault. If I hadn't let Genma take you away from me all those years ago this never would have happened." She sobbed.  
  
Ranma stopped and looked up at his mother. Nabiki and Kasumi stood on both sides of her with looks of concern. Getting up, Ranma went and hugged her mother tightly. She was shocked a moment later when she felt two more people join in.  
  
Finally, Nodoka composed herself. She pulled away and everyone separated.  
  
"Son, I'm going to divorce your father and take back my family name." She said through sniffles. "If you want, you can take that name as well. You won't be ronin."  
  
"If that isn't good enough then Kasumi and I will adopt you as our brother into the Tendo registry." Nabiki said.  
  
Ranma looked at Nabiki as if she'd grown two heads and started sing rowdy bar songs.  
  
Nabiki gave Ranma one of her patented half smiles, "Ranma, Kasumi and I care a lot about you. You've come to be like a brother to us. You would have been one in reality if Akane had bothered to grow up and realize what she was passing up."  
  
"Nabiki's right. You're family to us and as much as we love Akane we realize what she was doing was wrong. We're sorry." Kasumi said, bowing. Nabiki followed suit.  
  
Ranma's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, "I'll consider both your offers. Thank you. Right now though I need to get away for a while so I can think. I also need to see an old friend I thought I'd lost."  
  
Kasumi came forward and gave Ranma a hug, "Hold on a second and I'll get you something to eat on your way." She turned and left the room.  
  
"By the way Ranma, how did you do all that stuff? You know, the invitations, the tea ceremony?" Nabiki asked.  
  
Ranma laughed nervously, scratching behind her head, "Well, you know, martial arts calligraphy and Tea Ceremony. After the first time I had to deal with them I kept practicing, just in case. And well, if it has martial arts in the title..." She trailed off.  
  
Nabiki looked at her 'brother' with newfound respect. She too came forward and gave him a hug. As she pulled away though, Nabiki gave Ranma a full kiss on the lips.  
  
Ranma stepped back and landed on her butt. She stared at Nabiki in confusion.  
  
"Oh, Ranma. If only I hadn't pushed you away that day..." Nabiki shrugged and left as well.  
  
Nodoka looked at her son turned daughter. Even as a girl he's manly! "I will be at our family home when you return son. Take care of yourself and call me often so I don't worry."  
  
Ranma nodded and got up, lifting her pack to her shoulder, "Don't worry mom. I'm the best martial artist ever. I'll be fine."  
  
Nodoka looked at her son sadly, "But you renounced your art."  
  
Ranma's expression dropped, "Oh yeah... that kinda sucks. I wouldn't want to use Pops, I mean Genma's style anyway. It's too dishonorable." Her expression brightened, "I'll just have to create my own style then!"  
  
There was a cough from the window, "No need to do that my boy."  
  
Ranma turned to see Happosai standing on the windowsill smoking his pipe, "It took a lot of guts to do what you did today boy."  
  
"What do you want old man?" Ranma said threateningly.  
  
"Why, is that anyway to talk to your martial arts master?" The miniature lech cackled as he tossed a rolled up piece of paper to Ranma.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"That my boy is my permission to practice the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts. Just put your name in the blank when you decide on one."  
  
Ranma frowned, "Why are you doing this?"  
  
"A number of reasons. One, you're one of the best fighters I've ever seen. Not even grown up and already able to take on masters with decades more experience. Two, you've earned it, time and again. And three, because it will annoy the hell out of Soun and Genma." Happosai laughed.  
  
Ranma chuckled a little herself, "Yeah, that last one's a pretty good reason."  
  
"See you around boy. You have great things in store for you and I plan to be there to see it happen." With that the old man leapt out of the window and disappeared.  
  
I guess he's not as bad as I thought. Ranma shrugged and looked over the scroll. It proclaimed him as a master of the school all right. The decorative border around the text however was done in pictures of panties and bras. Then again...  
  
She turned back to her mother, "Looks like I get to practice the art after all. As soon as I decide on a name... What was your maiden name anyway mom?"  
  
Nodoka turned to Ranma, "It was Raynor."  
  
Ranma rolled the unfamiliar word around in his head.  
  
"Your grandfather was an Irishman from America. Didn't you ever wonder why your girl side had red hair?"  
  
Ranma vaguely remembered meeting family from his mother's side when he was real little. She shrugged as if it wasn't that big a deal.  
  
There was a crash outside in the dojo, "I'd better leave now while I still can." Ranma leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek then rushed downstairs. Kasumi was just leaving the kitchen with a wrapped bento as Ranma reached the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"Here Ranma. Please take care of yourself. Call or visit us once you've decided what you're going to do with your life." Kasumi handed the package to Ranma and gave a slight bow.  
  
Ranma took the bento and gave Kasumi one of her trademark smiles, "Sure thing sis! I'll call you once I get to Graviton city. There's a friend there I haven't seen since junior high that I owe some explanations to."  
  
Kasumi blushed at the sister comment and shooed Ranma out the front door. She turned back and moved towards the dojo trying to decide the best way to misdirect the others that would surely try to follow Ranma.  
  
Ranma made her way as far as the canal before she sensed a presence behind her. Turning, she smirked and relaxed her stance, "What can I do for you Elder?" There was a little sarcasm in the word 'Elder'.  
  
"Ranma my boy, how polite you've become." Cologne laughed as she leapt from a nearby wall to balance on her staff near Ranma.  
  
Ranma shrugged, "No reason not to be anymore. I assume you want to discuss our deal?"  
  
"Yes, merely the when and how to contact you. I wouldn't want Shampoo to have to track you down again."  
  
"Hehe, yeah, well as for the when... well, whenever Shampoo is ready I guess. Go talk to Doc Tofu, he has samples..."Ranma blushed heavily, "...prepared. He said he could do an artificial unsem... insimminal... uh you know..."  
  
Cologne almost fell off her staff, "Oh my... Shampoo is going to be so disappointed to hear she won't get to bed you." She cackled for a few minutes before finally regaining her breath, "Oh child, I've never had so much fun. You make these old bones feel young again. If you were a real girl I'd have adopted you ages ago."  
  
Ranma wasn't sure how to take that comment but decided it would be best to leave the Amazon elder on good terms, "Heh, thanks I guess. I don't know yet where I'll be staying but get a hold of my mom later. I promised I'd let her know where I'll be. Good enough?"  
  
The ancient woman nodded, "Yes boy that's fine. Now off with you."  
  
Ranma bowed with a bit of humor and took off once again. Cologne watched the boy turned girl disappear over a rooftop. I wonder if I should have told him that his child, being an amazon, would make him an amazon as well? Oh well, time enough to tell my heir later. She cackled again scaring some nearby pedestrians as she took to the rooftops herself, heading back to the Nekokatten.  
  
Ranma continued on, she knew she had to head north, it was just a matter of how. Thinking of her meager savings she doubted she could afford a train to Graviton City. She vaguely wondered how she'd be able to afford to eat tomorrow. She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead and she cursed under her breath. She had planned this in case the Tea Ceremony had failed, it was her way out of all the conflicting obligations on her honor. She had planned to go to Graviton City either way but had yet to figure out how to do so. Shrugging her shoulders she figured it would take a couple of days but she could walk the distance. Food however could be a problem, she wouldn't lower herself to her father's method of ration requisition.  
  
"Planning on leaving without saying goodbye?" a female voice said behind her.  
  
Ranma cursed herself for becoming so distracted that she didn't feel the other person approach. She turned around to see Kodachi standing behind her with a strange smile on her face.  
  
"Ah, he he, hello Kodachi."  
  
Kodachi walked up to Ranma and looked her over, "You really are him, aren't you? What is it, some kind of spell?"  
  
Ranma sighed, "Yes, it's me. I picked up a curse in China when I was training with my father. And before you ask, I'm really a guy."  
  
Kodachi stepped back and nodded thoughtfully, "And your offer at the Cha-No- Yu?"  
  
Ranma looked a little nervous, "About being your friend? I always thought you needed one."  
  
"I would like that. Being your friend that is." There was silence for a moment, "So you're leaving?"  
  
"Yeah, I kinda need to get away. Breaking an engagement and disowning your family kinda makes things a little tough to hang around at the moment." Ranma replied.  
  
"I couldn't even begin to imagine renouncing my family. That was incredibly brave of you." Kodachi continued.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it was a little. So why are you acting so nice, so..."  
  
"Sane?" She finished for Ranma, "You might say that your presentation a while ago shocked me into Sanity. I realized if you could take back your life and live on your own terms then so could I. I've been living with two lunatics for so long I kind of became one myself. Then of course there is the loneliness from being more privileged than most. It's hard to make friends when you're raised to be a stuck up snob. You were one of the first people I've met who didn't care whether I had money or not."  
  
Ranma shrugged, "'bout all money's good for is buyin' food. Or paying off Nabiki." She smiled.  
  
Kodachi laughed but it was good natured without the hint of madness usually associated with it, "So where will you go?" she asked after a moment to calm down.  
  
"I have something I need to deal with in Graviton City. I don't know how long I'll be but I'll let you know through my mother what I plan to do after when I figure that out. You remember where my mother's house is right?"  
  
Kodachi blushed in embarrassment, "I apologize for my part in demolishing your mother's home."  
  
"It's in the past. Don't worry about it." Ranma waved it off.  
  
Kodachi let it go for now, "If you're heading north do you have enough money for a train?"  
  
"No, not really. I was going to walk it. Shouldn't take too long for me."  
  
Kodachi reached into her purse and pulled out a small clip that she tossed to Ranma. He caught it easily, then almost dropped it.  
  
"There must be over a hundred thousand yen here! I-I can't accept this." Ranma held the money clip back to Kodachi.  
  
Kodachi glared at her, "Take it or I'll shove it down your throat. You're my friend Ranma and friends help each other right?" there was a small nod from the redhead, "You helped me see my life from a different perspective today and you offered friendship which means more to me than you can imagine. Besides, that's just what's left over from this week's allowance. I'll get more tomorrow."  
  
"Ok Kodachi." There was a loud explosion in the distance coming from the direction of the Tendo dojo. Ranma recognized the trademark sound of the Happo-daikiren and realized Happosai must be distracting everyone from following him, "I should be going before they catch up with me."  
  
Kodachi grinned, "I expect you come back soon and tell me personally about all your adventures."  
  
"I'd like that, See ya around Ko-chan!" Ranma turned and made a beeline for the train depot.  
  
Kodachi turned back towards the Kuno mansion with a lightness to her steps, "Oh brother dear, I shall have so much fun tormenting you over Ranma's curse." She entered the main gates with thoughts of shopping or maybe training with her new friend.  
  
An hour Later Ranma was finally on a train headed to Graviton City. No one would think she'd be able to afford the trip and would assume she'd left on foot. Even if they knew where she was going, she'd have a two day head start on them. She sat back and picked at the bento Kasumi had packed, savoring the food, realizing it would be the last of her food for a while. Her mind turned to A-chan and what she'd say to her when Ranma finally found her again.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Useless Crap here:  
  
Muhahahaha! Once again I start another fic before finishing the others! P#33R mY L337 F4|\| F1K 5K1LLZ. Truthfully, Even as busy as I am with school, I am almost ready with another chapter of Ah, My Akane and am Just about finished with the next chapter of Ranko's curse. Element of Shadows is going under a minor rewrite (Who knew Tanuki were real critters?) The other fics are on hold (Except City of dreams) until I can actually come up with a plot for them :P  
  
I seem to be addicted to comments and reviews to the point where none of my original fiction is being worked on. I should check out fictionpress.net and see what kind of system they having for feeding my need for other peoples opinions. Anyway, enjoy and happy readings.  
  
PS. I'm thinking of doing a COPs in Tokyo using the two girls from Your Under Arrest and having them deal with all the different violent Anime genera from Ranma to Sailor Moon. What do you think? 


	2. Healing old wounds

Linda looked up from folding the laundry as her daughter came in the front door looking a little worn and ragged.  
  
"How was school today A-chan?" She asked.  
  
The sixteen year old redhead shrugged, "Better than usual. B-ko only tried to kill me once today."  
  
If only I had as many problems when I was your age, Linda thought. "I don't see why she hasn't been arrested or at least expelled for her behavior."  
  
A-chan shook her head, "Her dad apparently owns almost all of Graviton city and everyone in it, those he doesn't own, he's bribed to ignore his daughter's conduct."  
  
"Well, just do your best to ignore her dear. By letting bullies get to you, you empower them to keep bullying." Linda said.  
  
"I try Mom, really I do. Sometimes I wish Ranma were still around. He knew how to deal with bullies."  
  
"A-ko Megami! You can't always rely on others to solve your problems. As nice as Ranma was, he and his father moved on. You need to do the same. You're only sixteen for kami's sake. There are plenty of boys out there."  
  
A-ko frowned, "I suppose, Mother." She knew her Mom hated being called mother, "It's just that I felt a connection with him I never felt with anyone else."  
  
Linda relented, "I know dear, I felt the same way about your father of course I was a little older than you are now. Now go get changed, we have to go to the gallery opening tonight. They're showing my latest piece remember?"  
  
A-ko brightened, "That's right! Oh, I need to take a shower and then call C-ko..." she trotted off up the stairs to her room.  
  
Linda smiled after her daughter. She was so much like her father, speaking of which, "Come on out Clark, I know you're hiding in the kitchen."  
  
A tall dark haired man wearing thick glasses stepped into the living room with a hand behind his head, laughing nervously, "Never could sneak up on you could I dear?"  
  
Standing on tip toe, Linda kissed her husband, "Dear, C-ko can hear you coming."  
  
Clark looked embarrassed for a moment, "I heard A-ko had another fight today, was it the Daitokuji girl again?"  
  
Linda nodded, "That horrible B-ko keeps picking on our Ariel. Dear, A-chan is sixteen now, don't you think we should tell her?"  
  
"She does seem to be getting stronger, and I was about that age when I started noticing I was different from the other kids. It doesn't help that she was born with your strength and invulnerability to begin with." Clark sighed.  
  
Linda nodded, "Maybe the next time Diana and Kyle come to visit we can let A-ko in on the family secret."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ranma got off the train once again in his male form and looked around. Off in the distance he could see the remains of the invader's ship balanced precariously atop the JSDF Space forces control tower. There was evidence of destruction and rebuilding all over the crater of which the train station was perched on the edge. Ranma frowned as he realized finding his old girlfriend would be tougher than he'd thought. Graviton was easily the size of Tokyo proper.  
  
He shouldered his pack and left the train terminal. His first order of business was to get something to eat. Luckily there were quite a few places here due to the commuter traffic. Ranma chose an out of the way ramen stand and took a seat under the awning. He ordered a deluxe bowl and contemplated his next move as he ate.  
  
"That's funny, most people are trying to leave the city not move in." a voice said from the seat next to Ranma. Ranma nearly jumped in surprise. He was positive the seat had been empty a second ago and was sure he'd have noticed if someone had sat down. Ranma looked up at the man seated to his right. Ranma was surprised again to see he was a Gaijin, there was no hint of accent in the man's Japanese. He would have been about six feet tall standing, with brown hair that was graying on the temples. He was wearing a brown leather fight jacket with a white T-shirt and blue jeans. He was calmly blowing on his ramen to cool it.  
  
Composing himself Ranma responded, "I'm just here to visit a friend."  
  
"Oh, I see. You must be waiting for her then." The man replied.  
  
"Uh... well, she doesn't know I'm coming. Truthfully I'm not even sure where she lives." Ranma stammered.  
  
The man seemed to smirk slightly at Ranma's naiveté, "Sometimes you need to let other parts of the body walk instead of your feet."  
  
Ranma frowned and took another mouthful of noodles, trying to figure out what the man meant by that, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He finally said looking back over but the man was gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"  
  
"Where'd who go?" The booth owner asked.  
  
"The guy who was sittin' next to me." Ranma said.  
  
"I'm afraid you've been the only customer I've had for the last half hour."  
  
Grumbling to himself, Ranma finished the rest of the ramen and set off towards the city center. Up on a nearby roof Hal Jordan stood watching the young martial artist walk off into the crowd.  
  
"Look's like the poor boy will have to be pulled kicking and screaming to his destiny." He said. With a flash of green light, the Spectre faded from sight.  
  
Ranma continued on, occasionally asking people if they knew where Graviton High was. Then he realized he was sounding like Ryouga and almost stopped. It was only because of his need to find his old girlfriend that he continued the humiliating process of asking for directions.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Akane was fuming once again. Ranma had left her. She had spent the night alternating between crying and telling herself good riddance to the cross- dressing pervert. At the moment she was breaking bricks (And anything else in the dojo) while cursing Ranma's existence.  
  
"How could he leave me? Me! Akane Tendo! Every male in Nerima wants to go out with me!" *SMASH* "How could that pervert resist me? I swear he's gay or something!" *CRAACK* "How dare he leave me! He can't break up with me! I'm supposed to divorce him!" *THUD*  
  
"You know, maybe he was just tired of being treated as an object to be fought over." A voice came from the door of the dojo.  
  
Akane straightened up from knocking the head off a training dummy with a pigtailed black wig to look at her older sister Nabiki leaning against the doorframe frowning at her.  
  
Akane growled under her breath, "What do you care? He was just a source of money for you."  
  
Nabiki winced a little, "Touché, I treated him pretty bad at first." *Especially when I pushed him off on you* she thought. "However, he was your fiancé. If you didn't want him to leave you should have treated him better."  
  
"Who wants an honorless ronin pervert like him anyway!" Akane screamed.  
  
"Obviously not you. I just came to let you know lunch was ready."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ranma walked out of the overnight motel with a page of the local phone directory in his hand, "Let your fingers do the walking... geez, does every guy over thirty have to be vague and mysterious?" He now had the address to Clark Megami's house. He just hoped it was Really Ariel's Dad. How many Clarks could there be in Graviton City?  
  
Heading out he grabbed some breakfast from a nearby vendor and began walking up the road along the crater wall. As he walked he went over what he wanted to say to her when he finally saw her. Just what do you say to a girl you loved only to leave her behind? What would her father say? Megami-san was always nice but he had an imposing aura about him that always made Ranma want to be super polite. A-ko's mom was a little more friendly yet very protective of her only daughter. Even if he could apologize to A-ko and have her forgive him, would her parents do the same?  
  
He brooded on this for a while until he realized he had walked right past the Megami residence. He heard the sound of the school bell off in the distance and realized A-chan wasn't even home right now. That was when he realized there was a chunk of the house actually missing, or more accurately, sitting in a collapsed pile mixed with debris from the spaceship in the distance. He could see Clark-san using a tape measure and writing down figures. There was a supply of lumber and other building materials in the yard stacked neatly. Obviously they were rebuilding the house after the alien invasion.  
  
Ranma realized he had nothing better to do and it might help get back into good graces with the Megamis if he offered to help rebuild. He had practiced martial arts construction after all. He approached the house slowly and noisily (to him) to let Megami-san know he was there. After a moment or so of waiting, Ranma gave a small cough causing Clark to jump a little in surprise.  
  
"Oh, you startled me there for a second. What can I do for you." Clark asked as he readjusted his glasses.  
  
"Ohaiyo, Megami-san. It's been a long time." Ranma replied politely.  
  
Clark looked down at the short boy before him thoughtfully as if trying to place him, "Do I know you?"  
  
"Yes, It's me, Ranma, sorry about this."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Genma sat in the dojo staring off into space. His son had renounced the family name and become ronin. He frowned as he tried to come up with some way to bring the disrespectful child home. Ranma could survive on the road easily, Genma had taught him how after all. So it was unlikely Ranma would come crawling back when he got hungry. There had to be an angle that hadn't been looked at. He knew the boy had feelings for the youngest Tendo girl, he wouldn't have gone out like he did against Saffron if he didn't. So why did all his plans to unite Ranma and Akane so he could retire in peace fail? Maybe it was a problem on the girl's side. She did seem to have quite the temper, but so did Nodoka at that age and he got along just fine with his wife. Maybe...  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door slide open on the dojo. He looked up to see his wife enter holding the Saotome honor blade. He cringed slightly but couldn't think of any reason she would want him to use the blade. She had taken Ranma's disappearance rather well, which only added to his confusion.  
  
"Genma, I need to talk to you." She said evenly, no emotion betraying in her voice.  
  
Genma's danger sense was beginning to go off but there were no obvious signs of peril as of yet.  
  
"When you took Ranma on his training trip, not once did you write or call. It was only when bill collectors came looking for money did I even know if you were still alive. When you finally did return you did not contact me out of supposed fear that I would find my only son unmanly. Because you feared for your own safety, I was forced to wait another six months to be reunited with Ranma. Then I find that he's not only afraid of his own mother but that he's engaged to no less than three women! Not counting how ever many other obligations that have been made in his name by you." She sighed as if gathering strength.  
  
"I tried to make things work out even after all this. Then you pulled that fool stunt of a wedding that caused my poor baby to have to make one last attempt before renouncing his name. I'm tired of it all. Genma, I'm getting a divorce and I'm keeping the house." She placed the tanto on the floor before her soon to be ex-husband and stood up, turned, and left.  
  
Genma stared blankly after his ex-wife then picked up the small blade and pulled it from the sheath. Halfway out he realized it was broken, snapped in half. That was too bad, he thought. Might have gotten some drinking money at the pawnshop. He stood up and went towards the house dismissing Nodoka from his mind completely and wondering what Kasumi would be making for dinner.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ranma chopped another two by four and hammered it into place using his fingers. Clark whistled in awe at the speed Ranma was working. If they could keep up the pace they'd be ready to paint by the time A-ko came home.  
  
"This is amazing Ranma. You said you learned this as a martial art?"  
  
Ranma stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow, "Yeah, it's just one of a bunch of crazy styles I've had to master over the years. I'm glad you're lettin' me help out Megami-san."  
  
"What did I tell you? Call me Clark." He sat down on a stack of siding, "Let's take a break. I'm not as young as I used to be. Come inside and get something to drink, and you can tell me what you've been up to the last two years."  
  
"Well Megami... I mean Clark-san, I'm not sure if you'd believe me if I told you."  
  
"Son, I'm an editor for the Daily Planet Japanese branch, I've seen things that would make your hair turn gray."  
  
They entered through the kitchen door and Clark pulled a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge. He poured a couple of glasses and turned to give one to Ranma who had stepped up a little too close to the older man. He bumped Ranma, sloshing the drink up and out of the glass and into Ranma's face. A short cute redhead looked up embarrassed.  
  
"I'd say you have a lot to tell." Clark said simply.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ryouga was walking down an empty street when he heard the crash. It came from a nearby building that looked familiar for some reason. Deciding to see if anyone was hurt or needed help he approached the door just in time to duck a broken table as it came flying out the entryway. Ryouga went inside and looked around. It was a small restaurant in shambles. There were broken furniture scattered across the floor and holes in the walls. Then it stuck him why the place was so familiar, this was Ucchan's.  
  
He didn't see anyone around, maybe Ukyou was hurt! Whoever trashed the restaurant may have done something to Ukyou!  
  
"Hello? Is anyone here?" He asked tentatively.  
  
"G'way." A voice said from behind the grill.  
  
"Ukyou?"  
  
"said g'way. We're closed!" the voice shouted.  
  
Ryouga went and looked over the counter. Ukyou was leaning against the counter surrounded by at least five bottles of sake. Her legs were splayed out in front of her and from the way she reeked, Ryouga could tell she'd been drinking heavily.  
  
"Ukyou? What happened?"  
  
The chef looked up and squinted her eyes, trying to focus on the lost boy, "Oh... hello P-chan!" she giggled, "You must be happy happy happy... yessiree. Finally got Akane all to yourself. No more Ranma... nope nope nope."  
  
"What happened? Was it something Ranma did?" Ryouga asked.  
  
"Gone... bye bye. Guess he made his decision."  
  
Ranma was gone? Ryouga needed more info but it was obvious Ukyou was not in the best of shape to relay said information.  
  
"Come one Ukyou, let's get you some coffee." He offered.  
  
"No!" came the angry response, "I'm gonna finish all the booze, then I'm gonna kill Ranma as soon as I's sober. Oh wait, can't kill Ranma anymore... hehehe, too good. Hey Ryouga, Ranma killed a god once, didja know that?"  
  
Ryouga didn't know what to do. On one hand he felt the need to talk to others in the neighborhood to find out what really happened. On the other he felt the need to stay and look after the drunk crossdresser. Finally his vulnerability to a pretty face made the decision for him and he settled down on a moderately intact chair to keep an eye on the cook while waiting for her to sober up.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Kasumi tied the bundle nervously. She had worked very hard on the bento she was wrapping in a red silk scarf. She wanted to finish before any of her family came in and found what she was doing. It had taken a lot of courage to finally do this and she knew she'd panic if confronted before she was ready. The funny thing was, she had Ranma to thank for her sudden inspiration. His courage to finally break away and settle everything started her thinking about her own life and what she had set aside to care for her family.  
  
She was just about to leave through the back door of the kitchen when Nabiki came in. Kasumi froze like a deer in headlights.  
  
"Hey sis, where are you going?" Nabiki asked as she grabbed an apple out of a bowl on the counter.  
  
"Um, I...I was just going out for some groceries." She put on her favorite fake smile. Maybe Nabiki would accept that at face value.  
  
She didn't, "I've never seen you dressed up so nice just to shopping before. If I didn't know better I'd say you were going on a date." Nabiki joked.  
  
Kasumi shook her head and was nearly starting to break down in tears, "No, no dates. Just shopping!"  
  
Now Nabiki knew something was wrong, "Kasumi, are you all right? What's the matter?" She put her hand on her older sister's shoulder.  
  
Kasumi pulled her shoulder away, knocking something out of her jacket pocket onto the floor. Nabiki picked it up before Kasumi could grab it.  
  
"What's this? An entrance exam schedule for a medical college? Kasumi, are you going back to school?" Nabiki looked at Kasumi wide eyed.  
  
Kasumi slumped in defeat, she couldn't go now. Her family needed her. Her father would forbid her to go to school, especially this one. Dammit, she was twenty years old! When was her time?  
  
Nabiki handed the entry papers back to Kasumi, "Go. I'll keep father busy while you're gone. In fact I'll let him think Akane is cooking dinner tonight. That will get him and Saotome out of the house for the rest of the day."  
  
Kasumi blinked, then started to reach for her purse, "How much?" she asked.  
  
Nabiki blanched, "I don't want your money Sis. Ranma had an impact on me too." She smiled, "But if you want to pay me back, bake some of those chocolate cookies you make so good. Now go, you've been taking care of us too long, it's time to do something for yourself."  
  
Kasumi grabbed Nabiki in a bear hug then turned to the door, "Thank you." She said as she slipped outside.  
  
Nabiki wiped a tear that had formed at the corner of her eye, "Dammit Ranma, the last thing I needed was a conscience." She smiled at the thought and went to inform her father of Akane's 'plans' for that night.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
It was shortly after noon when Linda returned from her studio/gallery. She had an appointment with the insurance adjusters about the aftermath of the invasion's destruction. Luckily the building had only sustained minor damage. As she walked up the sidewalk to the house she saw her husband and a younger man placing the last few panels of siding up on the second floor. She wondered a couple of things; one, who was the helper, and two, how had they gotten so much done in just three and a half hours? As she got closer, she recognized the boy. The last time she had seen him, he was wearing his hair in a ponytail. She had mixed feelings on seeing him. She was sure A-ko would be extremely happy to see him again but Linda was worried he'd just leave again with that worthless father of his and break her daughter's heart again. The fact he was helping Clark work on the house was a good sign however.  
  
"Well well, look what the cat dragged in." She said, immediately regretting the cat reference. She remembered he had a problem with cats. Seeing him wince slightly drove the point home, "Sorry, It's good to see you again. A-chan will be thrilled to see you again. How long are you staying?"  
  
Ranma had turned around and bowed politely by this point showing he could use good manners when necessary, "It's good to see you too Megami san. I don't know how long I'll be in the area. I came mainly to visit and apologize to A-chan for being gone so long. I promised her I'd come back but didn't realize it would take so long."  
  
Linda smiled. Ranma was just as innocent and honorable as she remembered him being. Clark came down off the ladder and greeted his wife with a kiss that Ranma looked away from with a blush.  
  
"It seems Ranma here has had quite the interesting couple of years since we last saw him. Maybe we should all go inside and take a break to wait for A- chan to come home." Clark suggested.  
  
It was a full half an hour later when A-ko and C-ko came home from school that she found her mom and dad sitting on the couch talking to some redheaded girl. Her mom had a slightly glazed expression on her face and her father seemed amused.  
  
Ranma turned and saw A-ko come into the house. With a cry of , "A-chan!" She launched himself towards the startled girl and gave her a huge hug.  
  
A-ko looked at the girl giving her a crushing hug and wondered who she was. C-ko looked on with some amusement like she was waiting for her turn to get a hug.  
  
"Um, do I know you?" A-ko finally asked.  
  
At this point, Clark came up behind Ranma and poured the remains of a kettle on Ranma's head. A-ko looked on in shock as the redhead grew and turned into a familiar looking boy.  
  
"Ranma?" she said hesitantly, "Ranma!" She hugged back suddenly and Ranma was now on the receiving end of a crushing hug. Only in this case it was slightly painful.  
  
"Ow! A-chan... a little too tight!" Ranma wheezed.  
  
A-ko let off a little but held on, almost in tears, "You came back! You promised and you came back!"  
  
C-ko, not to be left out joined in the now group hug, "Ranma!" she screamed.  
  
Finally the situation soaked into A-ko's mind, "Wait a minute," she pushed Ranma back to arms length, "Weren't you a girl just a second ago?"  
  
"Well, that's a long story." Ranma began.  
  
"How about saving it until Kyle and Diana show up for dinner, that way Ranma only has to tell it one more time today." Linda finally spoke up.  
  
"Um, even though it's not really a secret...I don't really want the whole world to know" Ranma said.  
  
Clark laughed, "I don't think it will be a problem Ranma, you said your mother was taking back her maiden name and it was Rayner?" Ranma nodded in agreement, "Then Kyle is family, I remember him talking about his cousin Nodoka some time back. I guess they played together as kids. He'd have to tell you more about it himself. Besides, Kyle and Diana are very close friends of the family. We've been together through good times and bad together." He gave Linda a knowing smile.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ranma had sat quietly and listened to A-ko tell her story about moving to Graviton City, B-ko, and her recent battle to save C-ko from the alien invasion. Ranma was surprised. He knew his ex-girlfriend was strong but this was on a whole new level from what he remembered.  
  
"So how strong are you now?" Ranma finally asked.  
  
A-ko shook her head, "I don't know really. These bracers limit my strength and I didn't have to take them off to fight B-ko and her stupid robots. It's getting so I'm afraid to touch anything."  
  
Ranma nodded, "I think it's just a matter of control. Have you been practicing what I taught you?"  
  
A-ko blushed and looked away, "I kinda forgot."  
  
"I guess that means I'll have to start training you again." He laughed.  
  
C-ko decided to add her two yen, "I want to train too! It'll be just like Junior High!"  
  
Ranma sighed and sat back. C-ko had always acted as if she was addicted to triple shot lattes but in the last two hours even Azuza would have died of sugar shock.  
  
A-ko decided to save her potential once again boyfriend, "Remember what you had to do last time? How sore you were?"  
  
C-ko seemed to remember and slumped down, "But it was so hard! I want to learn martial arts not exercise!"  
  
Ranma was about to respond when Clark came into the room, "A-ko, Ranma... Kyle and Diana are here. C-ko, I'm afraid we have important family matters to discuss tonight. If you'd like though, we can have you over tomorrow night for a special dinner."  
  
Clark had experience dealing with the over emotional bundle of blond hair known as C-ko and hoped she would accept his offer and leave with a minimum of persuasion.  
  
C-ko became real quiet and her eyes seemed to shrink. A-ko prepared herself for the waterworks and Ranma began to back away. Suddenly C-ko broke into a wide grin.  
  
"Ok Megami-san! See you tomorrow A-ko!" The blond terror got up and left without another word.  
  
The three remaining people just stared after her for a moment before relaxing visibly.  
  
"Wow, for a moment I thought she was gonna cut loose." Ranma said. A-ko nodded in agreement.  
  
Clark laughed nervously, "She's pretty unpredictable. Deep down she's a good kid, just a little immature still."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Ranma nervously came downstairs. He had barely remembered any of his family other than his mother and father so had no idea what to expect from 'Uncle' Kyle after all these years. He saw a black haired woman sitting next to a man that used to have black hair. It was streaked with gray on the temples. The woman appeared to be in her late thirties while the guy with her seemed to be almost Clark's age. Linda was serving drinks and motioned for Ranma to take a seat. A-ko sat down next to him with a smile on her face.  
  
Clark took his seat on the couch across from the other older couple.  
  
"Ranma, this is Kyle Rayner and Diana Prince," he gestured to the duo, "Kyle, this is Ranma Saotome, your cousin Nodoka's boy."  
  
Ranma fidgeted. "Actually its just Ranma right now. At least until I take up mom's maiden name."  
  
Kyle leaned forward in the loveseat with his hands clasped in front of him. "So you're little Ran-ran. You probably don't remember me since you were three years old at the time. Your mother and I share the same grandparents. I came to Tokyo a couple of times as a kid to visit Uncle Leo, your grandfather. Last time I was here on business, I visited your mother when you were just learning to walk."  
  
Ranma blushed at being called Ran-ran, it was something he barely remembered his mother calling him as a kid before his long training trip.  
  
"So how did you come to be with Ariel here, and what did you mean by taking your mother's maiden name?" Kyle asked.  
  
Ranma scratched the back of his head. "It's such a long story, I don't know where to begin."  
  
"The beginning is always a good place." Diana said with a reassuring smile.  
  
Linda nodded. "Dinner will be a while still so go ahead Ranma."  
  
Ranma sat back and prepared to tell his life's story once again. A-ko put her hand on his to comfort him. She too was eager to know what had happened to her boyfriend in the last couple of years.  
  
Ranma began to spin his tale of how Genma had tricked Nodoka with the Seppuku contract, continuing on through meeting Ukyou and the Neko-ken training. All the training hazards and trials he went through. He finally made it to when he was in middle school.  
  
"I was following Ryouga after school one day to keep him from getting lost when I ran into A-chan and C-ko," he said fondly.  
  
"I remember, C-ko had dropped her ice cream cone and was bawling her eyes out when Ranma comes out of nowhere and offers to buy us both another cone," A-ko continues.  
  
"I never could stand to see a girl cry," Ranma blushed, "We hung out a lot after that. We were up to dating when my Pop found out about us. I think that's why he decided to leave for China, that and the fact I think the law was catching up to him again. I had to say goodbye to A-chan but I promised I'd come back someday."  
  
He told them about Ryouga and the bread feud that ended with a final challenge and Ranma waiting for three days for the lost boy to show up. Then came the trip to China and how they had to swim there. The various temples and dojos where Ranma learned he was finally becoming his father's equal was one of the reasons Ranma believed Genma took him to Jusenkyou. As he told what happened at the cursed springs, Diana sat back and shook her head. Kyle just sat there with his mouth hanging open at the thought anyone would level such abuse on a child. Clark got up and went to the kitchen for some water.  
  
After demonstrating the curse for everyone Ranma prepared to continue his story.  
  
"There's more?" Kyle was flabbergasted.  
  
Ranma nodded. "That's just brings me up to the beginning of about the last year. It was after Jusenkyou that we went to the Amazon village to look for a cure..."  
  
Diana perked up at the mention of Amazons then scowled at Ranma's experience among the women warriors. Ranma gulped nervously, wondering if the woman had had any experiences with Amazons before. He continued on telling of meeting the Tendo family, being engaged to Akane, meeting the Kuno clan, Ryouga getting cursed and threatening to kill him. Then there was the part of Shampoo catching up only to be defeated by boy side, Ukyou following him all those years. He kept on with all the challenges and daily crap he had to put up with until Saffron and then the failed wedding.  
  
"After the wedding attempt I saw A-chan on TV and decided to resolve things once and for all. As usual, hardly anyone listened to me so I declared myself ronin and left. Mom is leaving Genma so I guess I'll go with her. I just wanted to keep this last promise I made and come see A-chan again," he said sadly, finishing his tale.  
  
It seemed everyone was in a mild state of shock. Not even Clark had heard this much from Ranma earlier. The Megami family knew most of Ranma's life before from when he dated A-ko but the last two years were too much.  
  
Clark frowned thoughtfully then leaned forward. "So what are your intentions towards my daughter now?" he asked.  
  
Ranma took a moment to think, something his mother told him was worth the effort. "I, uh, I like A-chan a lot. If the last two years never happened I think we'd still be together. I can understand if she doesn't want to date a sex changing ronin but I had to see her anyway."  
  
A-ko leaned in against Ranma. "You idiot, I missed you for two years and you think something as minor as a curse and not having a last name would bother me?"  
  
Linda nodded. "That's true. We're originally from America. While we value family, we don't judge people by their name, or lack thereof."  
  
Ranma seemed puzzled. "You're American? With the name Megami?"  
  
Linda stood up. "That's a story best told after dinner. A-ko if you'll help me set the table we can all eat."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Rants:  
  
Yet another piece of writing finished. I actually have a plot for this one believe it or not. It's just been a low priority fic at the moment.  
Things become clear next chapter as I finish the back-story for our DC characters and how they managed to end up in Japan. Other anime/manga will rear its ugly head as I start the actual storyline. Be prepared for Tenchi and Gold Digger just for starters. There will be no Sailor Moon in this fic though, I figure it's bad enough to have it in just one of my fics already.  
  
Later. 


	3. He has that Emerald Glow

After Dinner everyone was seated around the living room once again. Ranma had tried to use his best manners but had still managed to finish faster than anyone else. Kyle had said it reminded him of how fast Wally used to eat. Who that was, Ranma had no idea.

Linda looked to Clark and got a slight nod to some unspoken question. She then sighed as if to gather courage for what she had to say.

"Ranma, we told you when we first met that Clark and I were originally from America, well, there was more to it than just that. What do you remember from the Age of Heroes?"

Ranma took a moment before responding. "I remember some stuff they told us in school and on TV, something about superheroes back before I was born. All about people who had special powers and abilities but lost them when a purple light hit the planet or something."

Linda nodded. "That's the gist of it. There was more too it than that but you have the basic idea. There was the old Justice League as well as a few other groups who fought supervillains to protect the people without powers. Anyway, this is something that A-chan is old enough to know now and has to do with you as well Ranma, You see, Clark and I used to be Superman and Supergirl."

A-ko's jaw sagged in shock as many little things about her family suddenly fell into place. She had heard all the stories about Superman and Supergirl when she was younger. It had been well known that Clark and Linda Kent had been friends with them when they had lived in Metropolis. There were even documentaries about the friends of superheroes.

Then she remembered the other thing that had been in those same documentaries. "Wait a minute, that means you two are cousins! Ahhh! I'm an incest baby!" A-ko proceeded to do an excellent imitation of Tendo Soun.

Linda planted her face in her hand and shook her head while Clark scratched the back of his head nervously.

"No Ariel, we are not cousins," Linda interrupted, "It's a little complicated but basically I'm a Supergirl from another dimension who took Clark's cousin's place to save her life. I pretended to be Superman's cousin for a few years until he let on that he knew I wasn't Kryptonian. I liked it here so much that I decided to stay after the crisis had passed and Clark and I fell in love. It wasn't until after the Act of God that we were married and I gave birth to you."

A-ko had calmed down with Linda's explanation thus allowing Ranma to ask a question. "That explains A-chan's abilities I guess, but why tell me too? Didn't you guys keep your identities secret or something?"

Kyle decided that was his cue. "Well, that's because of me. You see, I used to be the Green Lantern." He held up his hand to show the Jade ring on his ring finger.

Ranma smirked at his 'uncle'. "So you were part of that Justice Squad too huh?"

"That was the Justice League, and yes I was one of the core members with Diana and A-ko's parents here."

"So you guys don't have any powers anymore?"

Diana shook her head. "Not since the Act of God. Everything except technological powers suddenly stopped. We lost a lot of good people during that period."

"If it wasn't for my Amazon princess here I don't know if I'd have survived," Kyle said with a kiss to Diana.

"Y-y-you're an Amazon?" Ranma exclaimed.

Diana could understand Ranma's reaction, given his experience with the Chinese Amazons.

"I am from the original Greek Amazons. I'm not sure what connection there is, if any, to the Chinese Amazons but I can assure you there is nothing to be nervous about from me. We certainly don't have silly marriage laws, especially since there are no men on our island," Diana explained.

Ranma's eyes grew wide at the thought of an entire island of Shampoos. He resolved then and there to never set foot on the island. His luck, marriage laws of no, he'd end up engaged to the lot of them, he just knew it.

After a few more minutes of small talk, something occurred to Ranma. "A-chan, if nobody has superpowers anymore, then why are you so strong and tough?"

A-ko had never thought about it before, not knowing about her parent's abilities before that night.

Kyle decided to answer, "The Act of God seems to have only affected the current generation of powers. Bruce theorized that some kids in your generation would start manifesting powers once they were old enough. The fact that Ariel was born with super strength and minor invulnerability gave a lot of support to that theory."

"She's getting stronger too. Much like I did when I was a teenager," Clark added.

"I don't understand. Why would I be born with superpowers then get more when I was older?" A-ko asked.

"Our powers are similar but come from different sources. A-chan was born with my powers but her Kryptonian heritage is coming out now. It's entirely possible that she'll get Clark's heat vision and ability to fly among other boosts."

"So she's the new Supergirl eh?" Ranma said, giving A-ko a teasing grin, "Better than being a magical girl."

"Oh I don't know, I think I'd look good in a fuku. Fighting for love and justice with an animal companion to give me advice." A-ko got little stars in her eyes as she imagined Ranma in a tux fighting alongside her against demons and aliens bent on draining people of their life energies.

Ranma cringed as he remembered just what those animal companions usually consisted of. No way was he going to let A-ko be a magical girl if she was gonna have a cat around all the time.

Diana seemed deep in thought before she leaned over and whispered in Kyle's ear. He seemed to frown before sighing in resignation.

"Ranma, Diana just brought up an interesting idea. Ever since the Act of God, my ring has been nothing more than a decorative piece of jade. It was keyed to only be used by someone genetically related to me. Seeing as how I don't have any children of my own, and you are my closest living descendant, I'd like to see if you could use it."

Kyle pulled the ring from his finger and reluctantly handed it over to a speechless Ranma. He held the ring up so he could examine it. It wasn't stone like he thought at first, in fact, it seemed more like metal. Not any metal he's ever seen before though. With a nervous gulp, Ranma settled the ring on the same finger Kyle had been wearing it on. It felt warm and his ki sight could clearly see power beginning to build around the artifact.

There was a flash of emerald light and the ring glowed brightly as a Jade colored Japanese stone lantern appeared on the coffee table.

"Wow," A-ko said breathlessly.

"I've never seen the battery change shape like that before," Kyle commented.

"Uh, what do I do now?" Ranma asked nervously.

"Hold the ring to the lantern and say your oath to charge it."

Ranma nodded and cautiously placed the ring against the glowing stone.

"_With the rising sun,  
evil must flee the Justice  
of emerald light._"

"A haiku?" Linda asked.

Ranma shrugged. "It seemed appropriate. So now what?" he asked Kyle.

Kyle shook himself out of his stunned state and began to describe to Ranma exactly what the ring was capable of and how to use it.

* * *

"Are you sure about this place? I mean, as run down as it looks, if they had any gold at all they would have used it for home improvement you know."

Gina Diggers, Archeologist extraordinaire, gave her younger sister an evil glare. "Brittany, this temple is several thousand years old. It's been abandoned for at least a thousand of those years. Of course it's going to look run down."

"So, if it's abandoned, how do you know they didn't take all the treasure with them when they left?" Brittany asked as she ran a finger over some obscured runes carved into the rock of the passageway they were moving down. She stuck her tongue out in disgust as the finger came away black from grime.

Gina looked a little sheepish. "Well, I don't really. From the legends I've uncovered about the site however, there was a neighboring temple that was at odds with this one and they supposedly placed a curse on this temple. It was quickly abandoned after that."

"A curse? There's a curse on this temple? Gina!"

"Oh come on, you don't really believe that do you?" Gina protested.

"A curse is the reason we have a new sister currently visiting Jade if you remember," Brittany responded.

"Ok, you have a point. But what are the odds of it happening twice?"

"Sis, you really have to learn to stop giving fate such obvious cues."

Gina let the comment slide as she went to work translating the hieroglyphic runes on the temple walls.

"The main chamber should be somewhere behind this wall. See if you can find a hidden switch," Gina said.

It only took a few minutes to find a hidden latch that allowed a stone panel to swing open. It took Brittany's strength to force it open enough for them to go through because of the debris filling the hallway.

As the two Digger sisters entered the main hall of the temple, old mechanisms came to life that slowly lit up, bathing the room in a eerie blue glow.

"What I don't understand is how something like this could be under Boise, Idaho without anyone finding out?"

"Considering the collapsed Lava tube we had to dig out to gain access to the temple I'm not surprised. The only reason we know about it is because I found that reference at that other ruin in Nevada," Gina explained

"Whatever, let's just find some gold. I got credit card bills to pay off."

"You always have credit card bills to pay off," Gina teased, "Oh jinkies! Look at this place! With the level of technology here, there might be something more important than just gold."

"We're not going to have to fight another mummy dinosaur are we? I'm still freaked out from the first time."

Gina shook her head. "I don't think so. This temple isn't nearly as large as the city complex in Nevada. The scale seems off as well, more human sized."

"Whatever, go do your nerd thing. I'm going to have a tuna sandwich."

Gina bristled at the nerd comment but refused to take the bait. She moved down the aisle to the dais where there was a podium that she hoped had an interface with the main systems of the temple. Just as she thought, there was a terminal with a keyboard made of stone keys. The monitor showed a series of lines bouncing around and she realized it was a screensaver. She tapped a key and a little window popped up prompting what she assumed was a password. Gina smirked, convergent evolution of operating systems meant it would be easier to hack.

She decided to start with the most obvious password, the name of the god the temple was dedicated to. When panels opened in the ceiling and what were obviously gun turrets descended and trained on Gina she realized she'd put in an incorrect password. Another window popped up next to the one prompting for the password with what was an obvious countdown. Gina knew she had to put in the correct password before the counter reached zero or she was toast.

Brittany was just starting in on her sandwich when she saw the guns appear and point at her sister.

"Gina, what's going on?" She shouted nervously.

"Hold on, I've only got a few seconds before they open fire."

Gina typed in another password. The timer suddenly lost ten seconds. Not only was the timer counting down, but she was being penalized for each incorrect password. In desperation she began typing passwords that she felt were most common. Each incorrect entry cost her another ten seconds off the timer. The muzzles of the gun turrets began to glow red as they powered up.

Brittany had by this point put down her lunch and was getting up, ready to get her and her sister out of here.

"Damn!" Gina swore as the timer turned red, showing the final few seconds. She only had one more chance at this. Desperately she typed. Hitting enter, the screen suddenly went black as the whole terminal shut down. She could hear the guns begin to whine as the prepared to fire.

Brittany began running towards her sister as the turrets began to fire. She knew she wasn't fast enough. These were lasers. Brittany couldn't even break the sound barrier let alone go the speed of light. Fear gripped her. Her sister was going to die and it was because she wasn't fast enough. Feeling it was hopeless, she pushed herself anyway. She ran as fast as she could, pushing herself beyond her limits in the futile attempt to save her sister.

Suddenly everything seemed to slow down as Brittany felt herself break through a mental barrier of some kind. Brittany could literally see the laser beams slowly coming out of guns in the ceiling as if they were shooting through molasses. Not bothering to question her sudden good fortune, Brittany quickly ran up and grabbed her sister who seemed stiff in her arms as if she were frozen in place. Turning tail (literally) she hoofed it out of the chamber leaving multiple sonic booms in her wake. It was a few seconds before Brittany realized they were no longer in the temple and slowed down to a stop. She felt Gina 'thaw' out and slump in her arms.

"Um, what the hell just happened?" Gina asked.

"I'm not sure really. I saw the guns shoot so I just grabbed you and ran. It looked like time slowed down for a second, everything was moving in slow motion."

Gina finished checking herself over for injury and raised an eyebrow at Brittany's smoking clothing when she finally took note of their surroundings.

"Ok, so how do you think we ended up in Seattle?" Gina asked as she stared at the space needle in the distance.

* * *

The Megami's had insisted that Ranma stay, and had put him up in the guest room for the night. Not that Ranma had really slept. With everything that had happened in the last two days he found he couldn't sleep. He laid on the single bed in the guest room and stared at the ring on his finger. He had Green Lantern's ring. Ranma knew about the old superheroes, hardly anyone on the planet hadn't heard about them. But it was all from before Ranma had been born, it had never really seemed real before. After his 'Uncle' Kyle had explained to him what the ring was capable of, Ranma really wanted to fly off and practice but restrained himself because of a certain redhead who had hold of his arm.

Ranma wasn't sure of his feelings but knew spending time with A-ko was more important than anything else in his life right now. There would be time to play with the ring later. The other thing keeping Ranma up was the goodnight kiss A-ko had given him before she went to bed. He'd kissed her before, but the kiss brought back feelings Ranma had thought long buried. He wasn't sure about where his life was going but it was clear that A-ko was prepared to pick up where they left off. That left him feeling confused and unsure of himself. It wasn't that he was unaware of the effect he had on women but he was used to being considered a prize in some contest of fiancés. The fact that A-ko was willing to accept him even after everything he'd been through and seemed a little worried about being rejected herself made Ranma wonder if maybe he could have a life with the redhead.

Setting himself back on the bed, Ranma realized he wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon so he began to plan how to best prepare for a life with A-ko.

* * *

"Ugh, my head..." Ukyou whined.

"Oh good, you're finally awake. Here, drink this." A hand offered what looked like a glass of orange juice to the hung over chef.

She downed the glass then blanched at the flavor only after it was empty, "Bleah, what was that?"

"Family recipe for hangover, orange juice, eggs, Tabasco sauce, that kind of thing."

Ukyou's head winced at the sound of the voice. To her it boomed in her ears. After a moment she became aware enough to take a good look at her caretaker.

"Ryouga?" She cringed at the sound of her own voice, "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"Ah hehe, well, you were pretty out of it yesterday so I locked up for you and put you to bed to sleep it off," Ryouga said as he rubbed his neck nervously, "What's going on that you had to get drunk?"

The previous day's events slowly came back to Ukyou and she felt tears coming to her eyes.

"Ranma doesn't love me..." she said before breaking down sobbing.

Ryouga felt his familiar anger building. First he hurts Akane, now it's Ukyou. Ryouga knew the time was coming soon for Ranma's reckoning.

Slowly over the next hour he got the rest of the story from Ukyou. He'd seen what he'd done for Akane at Jusendo and had finally decided to give up on Akane and try to make things work with Akari. Hearing what happened at the Cha-no-Yu slightly stunned him. He had no idea Ranma was good at any of that stuff and was surprised that Ranma would actually try to settle things once and for all. What he couldn't believe was that Ranma would give up his family name and become ronin. There had to be some ulterior motive that he just wasn't seeing yet. If Ranma had given up his name then that also meant he'd given up his family's art. It would be dishonorable to fight someone who couldn't fight back so Ryouga wasn't sure what to do if he met Ranma again. It would require some thought. For now though, he had to concentrate on helping Ukyou.

The okinomiyaki chef managed to collect herself while Ryouga was digesting everything he'd learned. She'd have to get cleaned up, the store wouldn't run itself and she hadn't seen Konatsu since the failed wedding.

"Ryouga, could you wait downstairs while I get cleaned up? I'll fix some breakfast as soon as I'm done."

Ryouga nodded and left the room on his second try, leaving the cook alone with her thoughts again.

* * *

"Ok, gently now." Ranma said as he placed the steel ball bearing in A-ko's hand.

They were sitting in the back yard. A-ko's bracers were sitting off to the side, along with some broken eggs, and several shattered rocks. Ranma had started her off with trying to hold eggs without breaking them but had been forced to move up the hardness level to granite rocks then to the tempered steel balls.

"I'll never be able to do this!" A-ko whined as she accidentally put her fingerprints into the hardened steel.

"Relax. Your mom and dad learned how to do it without help and you have me teaching you so you'll have it in no time."

"Maybe I should put the bracers back on." A-ko suggested.

"That's part of the problem. You've been relying on the bracers to limit your strength so long that you never learned to control it properly on you own. Your mom and dad meant well but that was the worst thing they could have done. See, as long as you're not thinking about it, you're doing fine!"

A-ko looked at her hand and saw she was holding the ball bearing with no problems. She smiled and her hand twitched, squeezing the steel like soft clay through her fingers. She threw the iron down in frustration, driving it deep into the earth. The two teens sweatdropped for a moment before they broke into laughter.

From an upstairs window, Clark and Linda watched them practice.

"They really are good for each other aren't they?" Linda asked.

"I haven't seen her this happy in a while. We really shouldn't have ignored her training for so long but Ranma is doing a good job of catching her up," Clark responded.

"Maybe they could use the training rooms up at the watchtower. Everything should still be operational shouldn't?"

Clark nodded. "Nobody's been up there in years, ever since the teleporters were taken offline. Ranma should have no problems getting there once he has some practice with Kyle's ring."

"Supergirl and the Green Lantern. It has a nice ring to it don't you think?" Linda said as she watched Ranma give her daughter encouragement outside.

"It makes me wonder. It's too convenient for this to be an accident. Ranma's coming back just as A-ko's Kryptonian heritage begins to manifest. This reeks of manipulation."

"You think someone's doing this on purpose?" Linda turned to look at her husband.

"Maybe, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing other heroes begin to appear soon. Maybe I should call Bruce and see if he's training a new protégé."

Linda began to respond but was cut off by a flash of green down in the yard below. Looking down they saw a horrified A-ko and no sign of Ranma. Running downstairs the two former superheroes arrived to see their only child crying her eyes out.

"What happened?" Clark asked.

"R-r-ranma asked me t-t-to spar w-w-with him," she said through sobs, "I didn't m-mean to hit him that h-hard!"

Linda looked around for any signs of the boy only to have Clark tap her on the shoulder and point up. There was a point of green light gradually rising as it headed southward.

"He'll be ok A-chan. The ring will protect him," Clark reassured his daughter, "Let's go inside and wait for him to either call or come back."

As the Megami family entered the house, none of them noticed the flash of light off a pair of glasses in a nearby bush.

* * *

Nabiki was working on the family budget for the month. With Ranma out of the house, there would be less damage from jealous fiancés and angry rivals. However there would also be less income without Ranma to make money off of, either directly or indirectly. The fact that Genma was still living in the guest room meant there would be a huge dent in the food budget. She'd either have to make him get a real job or convince her father to kick his fat ass out.

There was another crash from the dojo on the other side of the house. Akane was going through bricks too fast as well. It was starting to get more expensive than it was worth to keep the girl's temper down. Nabiki briefly wondered what breaking bricks had to do with martial arts outside of a demonstration anyway. Maybe she could get Genma to work at a construction site doing cleanup and that way he could bring the leftover boards and bricks home for her sister.

As she weighed the merits and possibilities of getting the fat panda to actually work, there was a flash of emerald light followed by a huge splash in the koi pond. It was only by sheer luck that Genma and Soun caught the majority of the water and prevented Nabiki from getting soaked. She got up and walked over to where the two soaked masters of Anything Goes were staring at the pond. Taking a look herself, she saw a familiar red pigtailed girl float to the surface.

Ranma sat up and sprayed a stream of water from her mouth. "Man, she hits harder than Ryouga and the Tomboy combined."

"Welcome back Ranma. You made quite an entrance," Nabiki teased.

"Nabiki?" Ranma looked around, "Figures, I would just happen to land in the koi pond after being knocked clear back to Tokyo. The Kami must love messing with my life."

Somewhere in Okinawa, Hal Jordan sneezed.

Soun and Genma came out of their stunned stupor and realized that Ranma had come back. That obviously (to them) meant that he was here to apologize to Akane and marry her right away.

"Boy! It's about time you came back to marry Akane!" Genma bellowed.

"The schools will finally be joined!" Soun cried.

"Ah geez! I knew this would happen," Ranma said as he glanced at Nabiki who gave him an apologetic look.

Genma chose that moment of distraction to pounce on Ranma in order to subdue him. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a green wall between Genma's face and Ranma's person. Genma slid down to the ground before standing up and assessing the situation. Was this a new technique? He knew his son was a genius when it came to martial arts, all due to his teaching obviously.

It was Nabiki who answered his unspoken question.

"Where did you get a Green Lantern's ring Ranma?" she asked, her eyes open wide in surprise.

Genma's eyes also widened, but not in surprise. Greed was the first thing on his mind. First, there was the thought of selling the ring. Then he realized that with a working Green Lantern's ring he could become the greatest martial artist of all time! He could defeat the dread Master! People would see him for the great hero he knew he was and lavish him with praise, and gifts, can't forget the gifts!

Ranma watched in disgust as her father began to drool. Using the ring had been almost instinctual, now she was regretting it. Deciding it was too late anyway, she quickly formed a cube around the two men.

"So what brings you by Ranma?" Nabiki asked as she smirked at the two men beating against the midori barrier.

Ranma laughed nervously. "Is there somewhere we could go without the eavesdroppers?"

"If that's a real ring then we can go anywhere. You know how to use it right?"

"Uh, yeah. Uncle Kyle told me how it works. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it." Ranma rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Good, lets go get some pizza and you can tell me all about it," Nabiki replied, walking up to Ranma.

"Uh, ok. I need to make a phone call first."

"Not a problem, you can use your ring to make the phone call."

"Really?" Ranma exclaimed, "That's cool."

Nabiki nodded as she took hold of Ranma's hand. As Ranma put an emerald aura around him and Nabiki and lifted off the ground, there was a loud cry of rage from inside the house.

"RRRRRRAAANNNNMMMMAAAAA! Get Back here you pervert! How dare you kidnap my sister!"

"She's still mad?" Ranma asked in astonishment. He dropped the cube holding the fathers and they both began ranting at him alongside Akane.

"Yeah, it's impossible to sleep in with all the noise."

As the dojo shrunk below them, Ranma looked to Nabiki. "So where did you want to go for Pizza?"

Nabiki seemed to think for a moment before responding. "Chicago sounds good."

* * *

Author's Rants: Ok, I know where I'm going on this fic. I'm just not sure how to get there from here. While this is going to be a Ranma/A-ko match-up there will also be a strong Nabiki presence in this fic. Why? Because I think she's hot for a fictional character. If you didn't figure it out, Brittany from Gold Digger just accessed the speed force and pushed her into the role of the Flash. How will she get along with a Green Lantern who's terrified of cats? I'm still looking for other characters from anime and independent comics to fill more roles of the JLA. I would be interested to hear any suggestions. I need a detective, an Amazon (thought about shampoo but would like something more original, maybe a sailor scout), and one other. I have someone already in mind to fill the Martian Manhunter's role. I would like to have a core group of seven. Once that's done, I can tell the first story of the New Justice League. 


	4. Secret Origins

Ranma took another slice of pizza before handing the box back to A-ko. Nabiki gave the couple a resigned smile as she worked on her own piece. She could see how much they were already in love with each other, even if they hadn't realized it yet, and briefly regretted messing up her chance with the pigtailed boy.

Nabiki looked away to survey the scenery stretching out below Mount Rushmore from where they sat on Washington's head. It was dark considering the difference in time zones but the near full moon really brought the area into stark relief. With her help, Ranma had used his ring to make a phone and called the Megami's to let A-ko know he was all right. He also invited her to come with them, hence the two girls were now getting to know each other.

"So Ranma, what are you planning to do now that you're an actual superhero?" Nabiki asked as she wiped her hands off on a napkin.

Ranma sat chewing silently for a while as he actually thought about it. Swallowing then taking a drink of his soda, he responded, "I'm not really sure. I hadn't thought of anything past finding A-chan really. I guess I'll take mom up on her idea and take Uncle Kyle's last name so I'm not ronin. Then I suppose I'll finish school. As for this," he held up the ring, "I don't know. It's too much to take in all at once."

"You should at least practice with it to learn its limits. I remember reading about it a few years back. If I remember rightly, it's powered by your willpower. Maybe you should take a training trip during the school break." Nabiki suggested.

"Ranma's been training me so I don't need to wear my strength restraining bracers so Mom mentioned the old JLA watchtower on the moon while I was waiting for you two. There was a special training room they used to use to practice their powers. It was made specifically to deal with my dad's level of strength."

"It's still there?" Nabiki asked in awe.

A-ko nodded while chewing. "Mom and Dad were telling me while you were on your way over here that the whole place had just been shut down except for the security system. They were hoping that someone would find a way to reverse everything to the way it was before everyone's powers disappeared. Until then, they decided to keep everyone out of the Watchtower so no one would steal any of the technology running the place. Batman shut down the teleporters over ten years ago when it become obvious that there was no cure."

Yen signs seemed to appear in Nabiki's eyes and Ranma could imagine the 'ching' sound of a cash register that accompanied the look on her face.

"I don't suppose we could go check it out sometime?" Nabiki asked.

"The Watchtower is not for sale," Ranma said with a frown.

Nabiki shrugged. Even without making money off the place it would be an experience she wouldn't pass up if she could visit.

A-ko yawned and rubbed her now full stomach. Nabiki had almost busted up laughing at how similar Ranma and A-ko's eating habits were. When A-ko rubbed her eyes tiredly Nabiki realized what the problem was. It was beginning to get light in the East. Checking her watch she swore softly.

"Time to go guys, we're up way past bedtime and I have school tomorrow."

The other two teens took a moment to register what Nabiki said before quickly cleaning up their mess and flying off towards the west encompassed in an emerald glow.

* * *

In a dark room somewhere in the Juuban ward of Tokyo lay a small frightened girl. Staring at the ceiling, tears fell from her eyes as she listened to the sounds of heavy lovemaking from her foster parents down the hall, the same parents that had been directly or indirectly responsible for her death at least twice.

Hotaru sat up and hugged her knees tightly. She didn't know what to do. How much longer could she continue to pretend nothing was wrong, that she didn't resent being looked after by the same people who used her, would use her again if they thought it was necessary? She couldn't run away, they would find her. Tracking her down via the time gates would be a snap for the senshi of Pluto. Then there was the whole mess about Crystal Tokyo. Even at fourteen, Hotaru could see what a flawed vision it was. Still and unchanging, the future the other sailor scouts fought for was so much like the silence that they had fought so hard against that Hotaru was amazed that they didn't see it. The smartest of them all, Ami, had even been seduced by the idea of a utopian future. Hotaru could do nothing about it, they would never listen to her and if she spoke up, they might just kill her again.

So Hotaru sat in the dark room, surrounded by her collection of strange lamps and wished for a way to be strong enough to change things.

The flash of white light took her completely by surprise, leaving afterimages on her retinas. She blinked rapidly, letting her eyes adjust, until she noticed she was now sitting on a stone bench in what looked like an ancient Greek temple. Panic rose in her chest as she began to look around frantically for whoever was responsible for her abduction. Was this the work of a new enemy? Had Setsuna found out about her thoughts and decided to permanently deal with the Senshi of Death?

"_Calm yourself child. You will come to no harm here,_" a voice called out to her, gentle and fatherly. Unconsciously, Hotaru's panic faded to replaced by curiosity. She looked towards the voice and saw what appeared to be a throne flanked by smaller chairs. To her surprise seated figures slowly faded into view.

"_Rise and come forth child,_" the central figure spoke. He was a white haired gentleman with a full beard that curled into individual locks. On his head was a simple crown and he was clothed in white and blue robes that matched the stormy blue of his eyes. Hotaru felt drawn to do as he requested and approached the thrones. The other figures smiled and nodded as if in agreement to some unspoken question save one who had a scowl on his face.

As Hotaru approached, she quickly realized that these people were easily twice the height of a normal human and she gulped nervously. She stopped short about fifteen feet from the throne.

"_We have heard your pleas for help and have decided to aid you in your plight. We are very aware of your fellow teammates and their plans. We cannot allow such a world to exist for without chaos there is no growth, no change, only stagnation and death. Will you help us stop them?"_

"I-i can't do anything! I'm not strong and I tire easily. My only real attacks would destroy the whole world and kill everyone!"

"_I agree, she is too weak to be our champion. Why do we waste out time?_" the dark haired man who had been scowling earlier spoke angrily.

"_Silence Ares. You should know how meaningless appearance is when one has the gifts of the gods. Besides, once she has been cured of the affliction Serenity place upon her, she will grow whole and strong,_" the woman seated to the right of the man with the crown said. Hotaru was confused, Serenity had made her sick?

"_Her suffering has made her stronger. She refuses to break even when all seems hopeless,_" the woman with gray eyes and an owl perched on her shoulder spoke.

Hotaru slowly began to make the connections. All the signs were there of just whom these people were. They had covered the Greek gods briefly in her school when they compared Japanese myths to those of other places.

The man seated at the large throne smiled as he saw the look of comprehension appear on the slight girl's face. "_Yes child. I am Zeus. This is my wife and these are the rest of our pantheon._"

"But..." Hotaru was stunned, "how? Why?"

Zeus grinned. "_There was once upon a time when the gods decided to remove their influence from the works of man. Humans had grown beyond our need for direct guidance and would have begun to resent us, so we left. But that does not mean we didn't keep an eye on you. But I am off the subject. We have called you here to offer you the chance to change things, to make a difference. You perhaps have heard of the hero Wonder Woman?_"

Hotaru nodded. Wonder Woman had been covered in history class along with the rest of the heroes from long before her birth.

"_Wonder Woman was our champion in the mortal world before the so called 'Act of God'. Heh, as if we had anything to do with that. But that is a subject for another time. There are forces gathering, some good, some evil, and we desire a champion to go forth and represent our will in the mortal world. You will be given gifts of strength, speed, invulnerability, and flight. You will be free of the bindings that hold you to Serenity and her ilk, yet still keep your connection to Saturn._"

"But what about Pluto?" Hotaru asked hesitantly.

"_What about me? Oh, you mean the time bitch. I prefer the name Hades anyway,_" snorted the man sitting at the end of the line of gods, "_She will be unable to track you. Such is the will of the gods. When Serenity bound you to my domain she unwittingly gave me the power to cloud your presence. Even though you will no longer have the taint of the silver millennium crystal binding you, you will forever be tied to my realm. Do not fear child, death is not a thing to afraid of for it is as much a part of life as birth._"

Zeus cleared his throat and leaned forward. "_Are you ready child? Will you accept our gifts?_"

"I won't have to kill anyone will I? Some of the senshi are friends even if I don't agree with them."

Zeus shook his head negative. "_How you deal with the Senshi I leave up to you. They are after all, with the exception of the other outer scouts, a force for good, no matter how misguided._"

Hotaru gulped and strengthened her resolve. With clenched fists, she stood proud and nodded once. "I accept."

There was a flash of light and Hotaru gasped as energy seemed to fill her. She felt as if she could run forever or lift a house! As the light died down, she realized she was no longer in her pajamas but a variation of her scout uniform. Instead of the dark purples and blacks, she was now decked out in red, white, and blue, with gold trim. Her tiara was gold with a red star, on her wrists were a pair of silver bracers, and at her hip was a golden lasso. Hotaru did a small pirouette, flashing her skirt out. Her shoes were red but had no heels, a definite improvement over her old high-heeled boots. It was still a pervert's dream come true though, no matter how you looked at it.

Hera coughed lightly while giving Zeus a dirty look getting his attention.

Zeus chuckled nervously then cleared his throat. "_It is done. Seek out the Megami family in Graviton city or the Tendo family in Nerima. Ask for a Ranma Rayner, he will help you. Good luck to you my child."_

There was another flash of light and Hotaru reappeared back in her room and in her pajamas but not before hearing a cry of 'Pervert! Zeus No Baka!' followed by the unmistakable sound of mallet meeting skull. Shrugging, Hotaru grabbed a suitcase from her closet and began quickly packing her clothes and personal belongings. She quickly changed her clothes for something warm. Taking a sad look at her lamps, she hefted the suitcase, surprised at the total lack of effort needed to lift it and moved towards the window. A shriek pierced the silence as Michiru climaxed down the hall and Hotaru shook her head. Opening the window, Hotaru took a deep breath and flew off into the night sky.

* * *

"To defeat owner in savage combat, please use rear entrance."

The young lady tilted her head as she read the stilted kanji on the sign outside the Tendo dojo.

"Heh, I'm tempted. Maybe they'd just call the whole thing off if I challenge them for their sign," she mused.

She pushed a lock of dark hair from her brown eyes as her lips pushed into a cute pout. She was of Asian descent, yet looked mostly Caucasian. She was wearing snug jeans with a black long sleeved shirt complete with cowboy hat and boots. Over her shoulder was a large pack with a bumper sticker on it that said, 'I'm from Gotham so back off!'

"Well, I'd better get this over with. I can't believe Mom and Grandpa talked me into this. Maybe I should just go back home and beat them both up," The girl said to herself as she opened the gates and headed towards the front door.

Inside, Nabiki was sitting at the table, half asleep. She had gotten in late from hanging out with Ranma and his new girlfriend and had been accosted as soon as she entered the house by both fathers and Akane. Having had only four hours of sleep only exacerbated her normal morning condition. She wasn't even aware when knocking could be heard from the front door.

Kasumi however was always bright and cheerful in the mornings so she answered the door with a smile and a good morning.

"Hello, My name is Stephanie Drake. Is this the residence of Tendo Soun?"

Kasumi was a little shocked. Most girls that age were usually looking for Ranma not her father. She didn't let it show however and answered in her usual manner.

"Oh my, yes. Please come in. It's so rare that we get visitors who use the door."

Stephanie blinked, trying to decipher what the taller girl could possibly mean by that as she entered the house. She barely remembered to take off her boots before stepping into the hallway.

Soun looked up from his paper as Kasumi came in with Stephanie.

"Father, someone is here to see you."

Stephanie stepped forward and bowed. "My Name is Stephanie Drake. I'm here at the request of my mother and grandfather."

Soun put the paper down and looked thoughtful. "Drake, where have I heard that name before?"

"I believe it was nearly twenty years ago. When you fought Shiva with my father and grandfather."

Soun gasped as his face paled. Then he seemed to realize something and calmed down.

"Yes, I remember now. It was my honor to help the famous Batman and Robin."

Nabiki mildly perked at this. The caffeine in her coffee was slowly beginning to affect her. She watched the conversation through bleary eyes and noted that Kasumi had excused herself to go back to the kitchen. Someone showing up at the dojo who had a connection to the Justice League so soon after Ranma joining up with the daughter of Superman and inheriting the Green Lantern's ring was too convenient for it to be a coincidence.

Stephanie coughed lightly at the mention of her legacy being spoken of so openly.

"Ah yes, anyway, I'm here to fulfill the pact you made with my family back then," she said evenly.

Soun coughed nervously as Nabiki's faced slipped out of her hand and impacted the table. Nabiki sat up while rubbing her sore forehead. Did she just say what she thought?

"Ah, well, you see... there's a slight problem there," Soun stuttered.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow while Nabiki leaned forward to see how her father was going to get himself out of this one. She shook her head sadly, apparently her father really was just as bad as Genma. She'd hoped that the Charadin family had been a one time mistake.

"You must understand, I've only got three daughters," Soun said lamely.

"No sons?" Stephanie asked, "What about the boy who had been living here? Ranma?"

"His name was Saotome until almost a week ago. He's no relation to the Tendo clan," Nabiki supplied. Normally she would have charged for this information but the situation was just too fascinating to tie up with money.

"Oh thank goodness!" Stephanie exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

"So as you can see, there's no way we can join the clans. Maybe we could put this off until the next..."

"No need to be so hasty," Stephanie interrupted, "While I'm glad you have no male heir, there's no reason we can't join the clans."

"Huh?" Nabiki said, her mind slipping gears as she tried to keep up with the change in the conversation.

Stephanie turned to Nabiki. "My name is Stephanie Drake. Pleased to meet you."

"Uh, Nabiki Tendo, likewise."

"You're so cute! I'm sure we'll be great fiancés!"

Not surprisingly, Nabiki had no trouble losing consciousness.

* * *

Shinobu sighed as she pushed aside another box for the garbage. She really hoped Keitaro would come back soon from wherever Naru had punched him this time. It was hard cleaning all by yourself, especially when there was so much to do. She looked at the huge pile of boxes and trunks scattered about the room. When Keitaro had told everyone that he was going to clean up and fix the disused wing of the inn, Shinobu had been all too eager to volunteer to help.

She had envision them working together and growing closer. Him tripping and knocking them both down, their lips just centimeters from touching...

She shook her head again. Keitaro had tripped all right, into Naru, and got knocked across town for his trouble leaving Shinobu to clean by herself.

Still, it was interesting looking through all the cool stuff people had left behind over the years. This room had been the lost and found back when the inn was a profitable hot springs hotel.

Pulling out another old trunk, Shinobu brushed the dust off the top of it. She noticed a faded brass nameplate with the initials H.H. inscribed on it. She wondered who would have put romaji letters on their luggage as she flipped the latches. Happily it was unlocked. Opening the lid she looked over the collection of folded clothes and souvenirs, obviously this had been some American's luggage that had been forgotten at the end of a vacation.

She was about to close the lid again when she saw a flash of golden light through the clothing. Curiosity getting the better of her, Shinobu moved the old fashioned men's shirts out of the way and gasped at what she saw.

A golden helm, at least that's what she thought it was. There were no eye slits or other sign that it was actually meant to be worn. Picking it up she was surprised at how light it was for being made of metal. She turned it over in her hands admiring the way it reflected everything.

"I wonder if Keitaro would let me keep it?" she mused. She wondered briefly why she would want to keep such a thing but brushed it off. She stopped briefly to listen if anyone was coming before she giggled to herself and slipped the helmet on.

There was a sudden flash of light and she found herself elsewhere. She spun around, suddenly scared. Reaching for her head she found the helm gone. Then she began to take in her surroundings. There was white for as far as she could see, there was no sky or ground or walls in any direction. She felt tears in her eyes and began to call out.

"Keitaro! Naru! Anybody! Help!"

"Calm yourself child. You are in no danger here."

Shinobu turned and fell on her butt upon seeing a man behind her. He looked to be in his late thirties. He had a full yet trimmed beard that was as white as his hair. Currently he was dressed in a pair of jeans and a red plaid flannel shirt.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Shinobu said fearfully.

"My name is Hector, Hector Hall. And this is part of your mind. When you put the helm on, it enabled me to speak to you."

"What?" Shinobu asked calming down slightly, "Why me?"

Hector laughed gently. "It was no accident that you found the helm. You could say it was fate. You have been chosen my child. Although I was expecting someone a little taller, older too..."

"Chosen? For what?"

"Why to be a superhero of course. You've been chosen to become the new Dr. Fate like I was years ago by Nabu."

Shinobu felt faint. A superhero? Her? The idea was laughable. She said as much to hector.

"I can't be a superhero! I have chores and cooking... I have school! What will sempai say?"

Hector knelt down in front of Shinobu and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't be here if the powers that be didn't think you were capable. You have a strong, pure heart and there is a darkness coming that only you can help fight. You would be able to protect your friends and loved ones from harm."

Shinobu looked up at that last part. Protect friends? Keitaro? She envisioned herself in a skimpy supergirl-like outfit beating up Naru for attempting to punch her sempai. Lost in fantasy, it took a moment to realize that Hector was staring at her slightly concerned.

Blushing for being caught daydreaming, Shinobu realized he was waiting for an answer.

"Um, if you think I can... Then I'll do it!" she said with as much authority as she could muster.

"Excellent!" Hector said while hiding a sweatdrop, "First thing is to get the gauntlets and cape out of the chest. Then we'll find a place to practice your new powers. At night, I'll train you in the use of magic."

The world faded back to normal and Shinobu realized she was back in the storage room. She was also surprised to be able to see with the helmet on as if she wasn't wearing it. Reaching into the trunk, she moved more clothes aside and found the yellow gauntlets and blue cape. Hector instructed her on how to put them on and in a flash, Shinobu was wearing a tight blue uniform that left little to the imagination. Luckily there was some sort of yellow loincloth/skirt attached with a chain around her waist to hide her lower half.

'_Your first lesson will be to teleport to the forest behind the inn here where we will begin training,_' Hector's voice echoed in her head.

Following the mental images he supplied, Shinobu teleported out of the inn in a flash of light shaped like an ankh.

"Shinobu? I'm sorry I left like... Huh, I wonder where she went? Not that I blame her," Keitaro said to himself as he entered the room.

Outside the Hinata Inn, Hal Jordan, The Specter, had a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Well that wasn't how things were supposed to go. Better luck next time Keitaro."

* * *

"Amazing! I thought I'd never see the day," Dr. Theodore Diggers said watching his daughter zip around the yard.

Gina stood next to her father trying to take readings on her little sister while Brianna watched with envy from her seat on the steps. Brittany Diggers was currently moving around the yard so fast that she seemed to be in several places at once. She was juggling, performing martial arts kata, and doing aerobics.

"You know, we were lucky. I had taken you and Brittany to Jade when the Act of God happened. It was only by sheer coincidence that we weren't affected. We came back to find that all the non-technological superpowers no longer worked. It was obvious that someone had done it on purpose so I remained quiet and tried not to attract too much attention. Either we've gone unnoticed or we are no threat to whoever was responsible."

"So why did Cheetah get super-speed? And why now?" Gina asked.

Theo shook his head. "I don't know. I've felt things moving about in the spirit world for months now. Things are in motion. Big things. Whether it will bode for good or for evil I have no idea."

Gina looked towards her other sister Brianna. Noting the look and understanding the reasons behind it, she decided to try to cheer her up before they had another Gravedigger episode.

"Well no matter what happens. Brianna and I will be there to help. After all no one knows guns and armor like my little sister. And if it involves ancient evils or aliens then I'm your archeologist. Combined with Cheetah's speed, we'll be unstoppable!"

Brianna was surprised to hear her sister say that. She was even more surprised to be embraced in a hug by both her older sisters.

Theo watched his daughters with a smile and saw his wife come through the door to the backyard. She came over and watched as their three daughters degraded from hugs to a tickle war.

"They'll still be our little girls for a while longer won't they?" Theo said.

"They always be our little girls dear."

* * *

Nabiki was currently trying to talk her way out of an engagement. She had faltered briefly when she realized this girl would someday inherit the Wayne fortune but firmed up again. She wasn't a lesbian, no matter how much she might have fantasized about Ranma in his girl form. Especially since she usually fantasized about his guy form.

There was a soft knock at the door that almost went unnoticed. Kasumi got up to answer it from where she had been watching, with great enjoyment, someone dealing with chaos that wasn't Ranma.

She answered the door to see a slight dark, almost purple, haired girl. "Hello, how can I help you?"

The girl seemed almost terminally shy and it was a few seconds before she replied. "Um, how do you do? My name is Tomoe Hotaru. I was told I could find a Ranma Rayner here."

"Oh dear. I'm afraid Ranma doesn't live here anymore," she saw the girl visibly wilt as if she had nowhere left to go, "If it's important though, I'm sure my sister Nabiki could get a message to him. Please come in."

Hotaru nodded meekly and stepped in, remembering to take off her shoes and leave them next a pair of cowboy boots.

As they entered the living room, all conversation stopped as they noticed their visitor.

"This young lady is looking for Ranma," Kasumi said.

"Are you another fiancé?" a voice came from outside. The door slid open to reveal Akane Tendo in her workout gi.

"Ranma will marry Akane!" Soun said with authority.

Nabiki sighed as things began to disintegrate into chaos.

Hotaru couldn't believe what was going on. The person she'd been sent to find wasn't here and everyone else seemed crazy.

"Quiet!" Nabiki shouted.

Stephanie was impressed by the way Nabiki seemed to take command. Too bad the Tendo girl didn't swing that way, at least not completely. The best detective in the world had trained her after all. She was pretty sure that Nabiki was open to certain ideas, it was just that she wanted to save face in front of her family. She'd try again later in private.

"If you would all shut up and let the poor girl speak, we could settle things. Look at her, she's terrified of you!"

Akane noticed the look on the girl's face and backed off feeling a little guilty. After all, it probably wasn't her fault if she was engaged to that perverted baka.

"That's better," Nabiki said once everyone was seated again, "Now miss..."

"Tomoe Hotaru."

"Tomoe-san. Why are you looking for Ranma?"

Hotaru looked around the group. There was no way she could reveal that Zeus himself had sent her to find Ranma.

"Ah, I was told by someone really important that I needed to find him. That he would help me with things that had come up recently" It was all true if a little vague.

Nabiki frowned and thought for a moment. "Would you say it was a super-powerful person who sent you?"

Stephanie's eyes narrowed at the way Nabiki stressed super-power. Hotaru nodded, looking a little relieved.

Well, I think we need to have a little talk then. Kasumi, this is important, could you call the school and tell them an emergency came up and I won't be there today? I'll have my contacts bring me my schoolwork."

Kasumi nodded as Nabiki got up. Stephanie stood up as well and after a brief look from Nabiki, was accepted to come along as well.

When Akane started to get up, Nabiki gave her a glare that told her to sit back down. When that didn't work she said, "Where do you think you're going sis?"

"It's about Ranma and that ring he has isn't it?"

Stephanie's eyebrow went up as she took in the conversation.

"Ranma is no longer your fiancé Akane so it doesn't concern you."

"Yes he is!" Akane yelled, "His father gave him to me!"

"Akane, just shut up and go to school! Don't make me get out the baby pictures for Kuno."

Akane glared at her sister but relented and sat back down.

"Come along Tomoe-san. I'm sure we have a lot to discuss."

"This I have to hear," Stephanie said as they left the house.

* * *

Ranma was walking with A-ko towards the school. They had actually gotten up early enough to walk and had met C-ko on the way. Ranma was on his way to enroll as well as keep A-ko company. C-ko wouldn't shut up about how cool it was to have Ranma back and while it irritated the hell out of him, he couldn't stay mad at the blonde.

They were about halfway there when an old lady washing down her sidewalk splashed Ranma with water.

"I swear it's some sort of Jusenkyou cult," Ranma said as she wrung out her shirt.

C-ko then began a long rant about how cool it was that Ranma and A-ko looked like twins.

A-ko noticed the crowds around the front of the school before Ranma did. Stopping, she looked at the assembled mecha arrayed at the front gates. That was when Ranma noticed as well. A-ko had told him about B-ko's daily attacks. She smiled an evil smile as an idea occurred to her.

"How about you let me deal with this today so you can get to school on time. You go around the side and I'll play kick the can with these robots."

A-ko looked at her with worry until she held up the hand with the ring. "I may not be a strong as you but I have this and my martial arts. It would be funny to see the rich bitch have to stand in the hall by herself for being late wouldn't it?"

A-ko agreed after some thought and took off with C-ko towards the trees surrounding the school to circle around while Ranma continued on to the front gates.

Soon she was standing before B-ko and was almost yawning from listening to the Kunoesque speech.

"Are you done? Or are you just planning on boring me into defeat?" Ranma asked.

"You dare mock me! You shall rue the day you crossed me! For I have discovered your secret! These robots are from an old lexcorp surplus warehouse that my daddy happened to purchase not long ago."

"Yeah, so?"

B-ko growled at the redhead's irritating manner. She was even more rude today than usual! "These robots all have something that will take you down once and for all Supergirl!"

Ranma's eyes widened. How the hell did she know A-ko's secret? There was little time for contemplation as the first robot began to attack by firing a green laser at the redhead.

"Kryptonite lasers! I have found your weakness!" B-ko laughed.

Ranma tuned out the laughter while reminding herself that she needed to call Kodachi at some point as she dodged another volley of green fire. How could she get out of this while maintaining her and A-ko's secrets? The battle supercomputer that was Ranma's mind went to work on the problem while the cursed girl easily evaded the slow robots. An idea formed but Ranma needed to know if it would work.

"Ring?" She said softly, "Can I shield myself from the lasers without being hurt?"

'_Power amplitude of kryptonite lasers is well within standard tolerances. Affirmative,_' the ring replied in Ranma's ear.

Ranma smiled and made a show of tripping over a rock and falling prone. The robots all attacked, pelting Ranma with green laser fire. B-ko began laughing again at having finally destroyed her rival only to stop dead as Ranma casually got up and brushed herself off.

"Was that supposed to do anything? I hardly felt it," she said before methodically dismantling the robots with precise strikes to limb joints and head sensors. Clapping her hands to clear the dust Ranma turned and walked past B-ko, who stood there with her mouth open. As Ranma stepped onto the school grounds, the bell rang and the gate slid shut trapping the dark haired girl outside.

It was several minutes later that B-ko began cursing under her breath. "I don't know how you did it A-ko, but I will prove who you are, right before you die."

* * *

Nabiki and Stephanie were sitting across from Hotaru in a small café. Stephanie had surprised everyone by buying them something to drink as well as a snack.

"Ok, I'll get straight to the point. Somehow you just recently found out you have superpowers or were given superpowers and the person responsible told you to find Ranma. Am I correct?"

Hotaru's eyes widened before nodding slowly.

"So the rumors daddy was hearing are true. Superpowers are returning," Stephanie said softly.

Nabiki nodded. "This whole mess reeks of manipulation. I'll give Ranma a call after school is out and we can all sit down and compare notes. So Tomoe-san what superpowers did you get?"

Hotaru was still a little scared, but not of Nabiki. In fact she seemed to know this Ranma person very well. That was when she remembered one of the powers the original Wonder Woman had, an intuitive sense of the truth. She decided she could trust Nabiki.

"I was contacted last night by the Greek gods. They told me they wanted me to be their champion in the mortal world..."

"You're Wonder Woman?" Nabiki exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down.

Hotaru nodded.

"Hell, let's see then. We have Supergirl, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman," Nabiki turned towards Stephanie, "and Batgirl." The knowing smirk on Nabiki's face told Stephanie that her cover was blown. She was liking Nabiki more and more.

"We're still missing three then," Nabiki finished.

"There's reports in America of a Speedster. We don't have any reliable witnesses yet," Stephanie replied.

"So there's the Flash. Two more and you have the League."

"League?" Hotaru asked.

"The Justice League. Someone's trying to bring it back," Stephanie said.

"But who?" asked Nabiki.

"We don't know."

"We? Your dad and Grandfather?"

Stephanie nodded. "We need to talk to Ranma and his girlfriend. Soon."

"In the meantime, you're welcome to stay with us Hotaru," Nabiki said switching to the informal use of Hotaru's name.

"I'd like that very much. Thank you!" Hotaru tried to bow only to get whipped cream on her nose from almost hitting her pie.

There was laughter all around as the three girls began the bonding process of friendship.

* * *

Author's Rants:

Well, it's been almost a year since I last updated this story. Bet you thought I was done with it didn't you? Unfortunately I have been uber busy with work and school the last long while. And what little time I actually had was spent being lazy. But I'm back in the swing of writing again, at least for a little while. Thanks to everyone who has been patient with me as well as all the support from the people on Shinji's forums.


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